A Fate Changed
by SlashHaven12
Summary: Sequel to New Destiny: With his Soul Burn cured, Mark returns to Kawakami City with an agenda that can change everything, but how will Momoyo and the rest of the Kazama Family react? Rated M for Language, Sexual Themes, and Violence.
1. A Fate Changed Ch 1-1

**Edit: 4/9/13**

**I probably should have put this here earlier, but Act 1 is mainly a prologue.**

* * *

**Act 1**

**The End of a War, the Start of Another**

**Chapter 1-1: I Scratch Your Back…**

"_It has been several weeks since I came back into this world. All of last month has been an illuminating experience for both {__Master (crossed out)}__ Survivor and me. He has started to trust me, despite my errors and my past. He even sees me as his partner now, an honor I shall not betray._

"_We heard a rumor from a reliable source that Survivor has found unable to ignore. He has contacted an acquaintance of ours to act on this information, a trade to be precise. Our new employer gives us what Survivor needs to put out the Soul Burn after we help him. However, I have concerns about this 'deal' but Survivor will make the final decision."_

_-Devil's Journal, First, and Currently Only, Entry_

* * *

Somewhere in the Middle East, a sports car is traveling down a road at high speed. The driver is wearing a sword on his back and a book bag on his side. Beside him in the passenger's seat is a case of weapons grade plutonium. When the driver looks towards the plutonium, however, he sees something, someone else.

"I will say it again," the man in passenger seat, whose looks resembles the driver completely, says. "I do not trust him, Survivor."

The driver, a mercenary who goes by the name of Mark Silv, sighs, "Again, duly noted under 'do not care'."

"You are going to get stabbed in the back."

"Whatever you say, Devil."

The image, Devil rolls his eyes, "Why do you trust him?"

"I don't, not in this case, anyway."

"Then why are you doing this? Why are you waiting when we no longer can? For your 'friend'?" Mark turns to glare at him. "Eyes on the road. Wrecking this car does nothing for us."

Mark turns back to the road reluctantly, "Just trust me."

"I trust you completely. I am just saying…"

Mark pulls up into a camp full of people surrounding a single building. "If he does betray us I won't be surprised."

"Does? He **will** betray us."

Mark parks his car in front of a group of armed men. Silently he picks up the case and exits the car. He counts the men around him: A total of eleven. With confidence, he strolls forward towards a tall mid-twenties man he recognizes. "Abdul?"

"Oh, Devil! I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. You are even more intimidating in person than your picture and your voice suggest…umm, no offense meant."

"Do not worry, I get that a lot," He offers his hand to Abdul, who quickly shakes it. "I have what you requested."

"Thank you, Devil, we owe you our gratitude. Come on inside." Abdul leads Mark into the building. Devil appears next to Mark spiritually so that no one else can see or hear him.

"Not a bad impersonation, Survivor. I would not have offered my hand, however. Just because I would aid them does not make me a friend."

'I'm not planning on doing this more than once,' Mark thinks, since he obviously can't talk at the moment.

When they reach the doors, Abdul talks to the guards posted outside it. "Nizam is expecting him. He won't be a problem."

"Nizam isn't here yet, he can wait outside."

"He's a guest here so we should at least let him get comfortable."

The other guard walks over to Mark reluctantly. "Fine, but at least let us search him for weapons."

"Very well," Mark says with his arms raised. The guard pats him down expertly, unknowingly missing the hand and a half sword on Marks back.

Devil speaks again. "I guess it is a good thing that your sword is your soul weapon so people can not differentiate between you and it. Otherwise we would have to go with one of my infamous plans."

''Kill them all' is hardly a plan.'

After a few more moments of patting down the guard lets him pass, obviously satisfied. Abdul smiles and opens the doors for them. A heavily guarded prison with bloodthirsty and insane men and women lie beyond them, at least that's what Mark was expecting to see. What he does see makes him smack his forehead with his palm. Arcade games, a ping-pong table, a few HDTVs with game consoles attached and players to match, and not to mention a book club are just about the last things he expected to see.

'Sometimes I believe that I am the last sane person alive in the whole world, or maybe I am the only insane person instead.'

"Well, a happy worker is a productive worker," said Devil as if he knew what Mark was thinking. "Maybe the same logic can be used for terrorist groups."

"Is something wrong, Devil?"

Mark quickly pulls himself back together. "Uh, no, no I am okay I was just wondering about some information I had gathered. Tell me, do you have a red-headed German soldier here."

"Yeah, we captured her a couple of days ago. How did you know?"

"I have an expert information gatherer working for me. He was the one who pointed me in your direction. Do you mind if I see her?"

Abdul raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I worked with her and we sort of had a fling. I am just saying that I should at least say hello."

"Ah, haha, I get you. You want to **rekindle** old relationships, eh? Well you don't have to worry, we didn't hurt her and we'll let her go back to the military safely after the Germans pay the ransom. Go ahead; she's down that hallway, then just take a right and behind the metal door, can't miss it. Oh, and you can say that you are negotiating the price if that helps."

"Nice idea, thanks Abdul."

As Mark makes his way down the hallway Abdul was pointing to, Devil talks again. "I am actually surprised on how easy that was. I guess all that game time does make terrorists soft."

He laughs at the comment. "Yeah, we should tell everyone to ship entertainment products to protect against insurgency."

"That probably includes security installers as well. No cameras. They might as well have just put out a mat for infiltrators and spies. Good news for us."

They turn the corner. "And no guards either, they were probably the ones playing ping-pong."

"I thought the term was 'table tennis.'"

Mark turns the knob. "And it's open, too."

"At this point it is just sad. I am starting to wonder if they had even tied her up. If not, your victory will be severely hollow."

"You're just into that kind of thing. Only with, you know, guys."

"At least I admit to my fetishes. What are yours again? Oh yeah, you like it when women-"

Mark hurriedly opens the door to end the conversation. Inside he sees a woman with bright red hair in desert camouflage clothes and her arms bound to a metal folding chair with a pair of handcuffs for both arms. She's turned around to face the window and away from the door, so she doesn't see him come in. She does, however, raise her head defiantly.

Mark closes the door behind him as Devil sighs and speaks, "This was what I was talking about. You always run from these conversations, embarrassed, even though you know that I already know everything. There is no point to these retreats."

He just ignores him and moves and crouches in front of the woman so she can easily see his face. "Hi Maru-san, I see that you've taken to espionage. If ask me, though, your more suited to front line work."

Margit Eberbach, the woman in the chair looks at him with surprise all over her face. "Mark! What are you doing here?"

"I heard you got caught, so I asked Frank what happened out of disbelief, and now I'm here to help you out at his request."

"How?"

"You got 'caught' because Nizam is being a clever little bird and being hard to pin down, right? Well, he's going to meet me here in a few minutes, so if you were to get loose…"

"He'll be an easy target. I'm liking this plan. It's humiliating how easily he can elude me, The Hound, who always finds her prey… but why don't you just catch him yourself?"

He sighs wistfully, "Politics."

"Politics?"

"Rule #1 in politics is to be able to deny any variable that can cause you harm."

"I don't get it."

"Frank is a very well respected military leader. If word gets out that he is working with a merc like me then that can quickly reverse his situation. Best case scenario in such an event is that everyone just shrugs it off as 'it was necessary' in which case the German Military will take a fall because that's another way of saying that his troops aren't as good as one lone soldier of fortune. Then politicians will say it's because they lack funding or it's because of schools or whatever the hell is the scapegoat is now a days, then their opponents will continue trashing the military to attack, then Frank's ability will be drawn in to the fight and he won't be able to operate as efficiently or given as much leeway to-"

"Okay, okay I get the picture! Why is it so complicated?"

"It is how they hide their weakness and fear," Devil interjects even though only Mark can hear him as he is now. Mark responds with a dry smile.

Margit sees the smile, "What is it?"

Mark quickly hides his grin. "Nothing you have to worry about for now," he stands back up and walk to her side. "Frank said he will be sending in a unit to help you secure the building as you're capturing Nizam. Lean forward."

She does as she's told and Mark unsheathes his cracked sword that is barely holding todether. With a swift cut, he severs the cuff chains keeping her in the chair. He puts the sword back as Margit walks around a bit. "Thanks," she says. "Alright, I'm ready to go!"

Mark smiles at her eagerness. "Not so fast," he replies. "The reinforcements will signal you to attack through the window. Until then, you have to wait."

"Understood. Waiting before you attack is crucial to hunting."

"Good, then on to the last, and my least favorite, thing."

"Which is?"

"I still have to keep up appearances, so I'm going to get in your way as you attack Nizam. When I do, hit me, **hard**, preferably in the head."

She gives him a sadistic grin in acknowledgement.

"You're a little too happy to be hitting me, Maru-san. Should I be worried?"

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing personal."

Mark sends out a small energy pulse into the hall outside to make sure it is clear to leave, he doesn't detect anyone. He nods to Margit one last time before leaving the room. Devil follows him as usual and makes one last quip as they return to the lobby. "You **should** be worried, Survivor. The reason behind her smile is that she can now take out some or all of her anger on you."

Mark lets out a sigh after hearing that. Abdul walks over. "What's wrong Devil? Did she reject you?"

"Yes, she is not exactly in the greatest mood right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Don't worry; Nizam is just outside so you can leave shortly."

Mark lets out a laugh, "You are very understanding, Abdul."

Abdul gives a small bow to Mark. "Thank you for the complement," he says as the door opens and Nizam, a middle-aged man, comes in. "Nizam! How are you doing?"

"Alright, I'm a little nervous but I am glad we have what we need now," Nizam says before turning to his guards. "Watch over the Hound. I don't like her so close to me." The guards nod and head down the hallway to the makeshift cell.

'Hopefully they won't enter the room and find Margit free. I don't want them to make a ruckus and blow my cover.'

Devil, as if on cue, follows them while talking. "Do not worry Survivor; I will make sure they will be harmless." Even though Devil is not in a physical form, he can still keep people in line by attacking they're spirits lightly, giving them 'bad vibes'.

Nizam, in the meantime, has gotten so close to Mark their noses are almost touching. He's just standing there, staring into Mark's eyes, trying to get a read on his soul. 'I guess this is one way to say 'nice to meet you.' But then again, he has been able to avoid the German Military for awhile now so maybe there **is** some sort of trick here…note to self: Consult Devil on possible soul reading technique involving looking into someone's eyes.'

After a while Nizam backs up with a smile on his face and extends his hand to Mark who shakes it. "So you have what we want?" he asks.

Mark hands him the case. "Of course, I would not be here if I did not have anything."

Nizam laughs happily and says to Abdul, "I like him." He takes the case and is about to open it before stopping himself. He turns back to Mark, "Is it safe to be exposed to plutonium?"

"I honestly have no idea. I would not, just to be sure."

"Well it's fine; we have experts and a facility here. How about we give you a tour?"

"Sure, I do not-" The power suddenly goes out for a half second before coming back on, making the people playing the video games very upset. "I do not suppose that is usual."

Nizam looks around with worry. He calls to the guards outside, "The power just went out! Check out the generator!" There is no response. Nizam pulls out a pistol. "Damn…Everyone get ready! We may be under attack!"

All the terrorists move toward their guns when the doors slam open and grenades get thrown in. "Flashbangs!" Mark yells out.

The grenades go off and stun the terrorists (Mark covered his ears and closed his eyes when he saw the grenades). Mark grabs Nizam and tries to move him away when Margit rushes from the hallway, Mark presumes she's already knocked out the guards watching over her, and charges at them as planned. Mark stands up to face her as valiantly as possible when a gunshot rings out behind him and he feels a sharp pain in his back. Mark quickly spins around, "OW! What the hell?!"

"Sorry! I still can't see that well!" Nizam had accidently shot him. Mark turns back to Margit who is already in mid-jump. The very next moment her boot smashes into Mark's face hard. Teeth and blood fly out of his mouth and he can hear his jaw crack under the pressure. He spins uncontrollably before hitting the ground and playing dead.

Shortly afterward, a burlap sack is placed over his head to blind him and he is dragged away and thrown into what Mark presumes is a truck. He can hear a couple of helicopters and a few engines humming. He sends out a small pulse and detects that Abdul and Nizam are in a separate vehicle and that Margit is in one of the helicopters. There are a few terrorists in his truck as well, but they aren't important.

He can sense Devil next to him. "That looked like it hurt. Your experience with pain is useful in times like this I see. I am going to guess that we will be seeing face to face with Friedrich in about three hours so we should rest, especially since we are going to end with plan C."

* * *

Three hours later, Mark is thrown into a chair next to a table with bright lights sifting through the bag on his head. He can feel two presences in the room with him. Still, he stays on the safe side and continues to act unconscious even though his eyes are open. One of them pulls the bag off of him and he takes that as a cue that it's okay to stop acting now. He stretches his arms and legs and looks across the table to a near-bald German man in his mid-fifties who is also sitting down. Margit, who had pulled off the bag, is calmly standing next to him. Devil, on the other hand, is on the brink of raging, telling Mark all he needs to know.

Mark ignores Devil allows the man across from him, his employer Lt. Gen. Frank Friedrich, the first word. "Good work. The plan went off without a hitch."

"I try my best."

"It shows. Thanks to you, we captured Nizam a lot quicker than we had hoped and without casualties."

"The best kind of results," Mark turns his head to Margit. "How are you doing Maru-san?"

"I didn't like being handcuffed to a chair, it feels good to move freely again!"

"Yep, you are definitely not cut out for espionage work."

Frank interrupts the two, "**I** am the one who decides what's best for her."

"Of course, you are her CO after all," Mark calmly takes that sudden outburst in stride.

"Yes, I am…did it just get colder in here?"

Mark worriedly eyes Devil. "That's just Devil. We should get this over with quickly before he can no longer hold back."

Margit opens her eyes wide and readies her tonfa, "Devil is here?! In this room?!" she asks, ready for battle.

"Yeah, he's in the corner to your left, although I don't recommend trying to fight him. Very few things can hurt him as he is now."

"Why is he here?" Frank asks calmly.

"He is literally a part of me. He has to be with me, for now anyway. He's still following my rules though so you don't have to worry about him."

"I see…"

"Good. Now, can I have my payment? I'm dying to have it again."

"Of course," Frank pulls out a leather briefcase from under the table and opens it, revealing a flawless, emerald cut diamond just big enough to fit comfortably inside a closed hand. Margit suddenly forgets about Devil and looks deeply at it. Even Mark's breath would have been taken away. If it wasn't for…

"That's not my diamond."

Frank face doesn't budge an inch. Margit just gives him a quizzical look. Mark sighs and pulls out a lighter from his left pocket and grabs the stone with his right hand. Then he puts the diamond over the open flame. Cracking noises erupt from the stone.

Margit is startled by the sudden cracking. "What are you doing?!" she almost yells.

"Frank…this isn't even a diamond. Diamonds don't crack under flame. Do you want-"

He is interrupted by Devil, who takes physical form and flings the table into the wall and shattering it into chips. Mark doesn't move at all but the other two are startled by the sudden event.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he screams loudly. "HOW DARE YOU TREAT US LIKE THIS! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS YOU TWISTED BASTARD?!"

Mark sighs and slowly puts the lighter in his pocket and throws the cracked stone at the splinters that use to be the table. Then he gets up and pulls Devil back. "Calm down, Devil, calm down."

"YOU KNOW WHAT OLD MAN?! HOW ABOUT YOU GET YOUR DOG TO SHOVE BOTH OF HER TONFA UP YOUR BEATEN OLD ASS SO I CAN KICK THEM INTO YOUR HEAD AND OUT YOUR EYES!"

Mark uses a much firmer voice, "**Calm Down!**" Devil stops yelling, but is clearly still very angry. Fire is burning on the back of his 'shirt' and is licking the ceiling. He reluctantly lets himself get pulled back by Mark, "Alright, good, deep breaths Devil." Devil presses his back on the wall in front of Frank and Margit, who are left completely speechless. After Devil takes a few breathes and the fire burns out Mark turns and sits back on the chair.

"That…was…" Margit starts.

"Violent? Tense? Scary? Disturbing?"

"Angry."

"I prefer the term 'provoked'," Devil says normally.

Mark decides to get back on topic and speaks to Frank, "Why did you do this?"

"I…cannot pay or endorse mercenaries. I had hoped to trick you into thinking you got what you wanted."

"**Oh right. What other reason could it be?**" Devil scoffs unbelievingly. Mark turns his head so that both his and Devil's eyes meet. In that moment they realize that they both know the true reason as to why Frank pulled off such a trick.

Mark turns to Frank again. "Do you know why I need that diamond, **my** diamond?"

"No, you gave me the location, the pictures of the museum, and who owns it."

Devil can't help but make a small and bitter comment, "God damned vultures."

"Vultures?"

"You see," Mark continues, "when Aura Artists start their training they are given a gem that matches their soul. A soul gem, if you will. When this happens, an Artist pushes their spirit into the gem and they leave a part of their soul in it. Once the Artist is done with training they are given the gem to fuse with the Artist's Soul Weapon, like my sword. This is done to bolster the Artist's soul to prevent Breaks and Burns.

"Now, I'm sure you are wondering why they wait until the Artist is done training. That's because the soul is easily corrupted and even damaged during the training process during which the Soul Gem is also malleable and prone to the same risks. It is only after training that an Artist's soul is truly solid.

"Now that was where **my** lecture ended. However, Devil has been scouring our information and he has found that the Soul Gem has a secondary purpose. It serves as a soul's blueprint and can reverse damaging afflictions."

"So...?"

"So," Devil says, "we can stop Survivor's Soul Burn, thus preventing his life from ending prematurely."

"So Mark isn't going to die?" Margit asks tentatively for fear of getting her hopes up.

"I am sure of it, but we are at the end of our deadline."

Mark sighs, "Why are you such a downer?"

"I do not lie. Now can you see the importance of our request, Friedrich?"

"…I do see, but my decision is final. I'm not helping you."

"Lt. General!" Margit starts, but Frank silences her by raising his hand.

"My situation has not changed," he explains. "I can't help you."

Mark looks him in the eyes and sees that he's too stubborn to change his mind. He switches his gaze to Margit and asks, "What about you Maru-san? Are you just going to stand by Frank or are you going to try and help me?"

Margit is now the center of attention and looks between the two, clearly torn. It takes her several seconds to decide. "I want to help you Mark…but I can't go against Lt. General."

"I understand." He turns to Frank one last time, "Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this? You do know what this means, right?"

His face tenses up as he speaks, "retaliation."

"War," and with that final word Mark and Devil disappear.

"Was that the 'blink' ability you told me about?" Frank asks Margit.

"Yes, sir…Did he actually declare war on us?" she asks sadly

"It would appear so, Margit. We don't have to worry about him, though. He won't be able to hurt the German Military."

A few seconds later outside the base…

"You really have a flair for drama Survivor."

Mark is making his way to a camouflaged vehicle that he had a friend park and leave. "Maybe."

"…You counted on this?"

Mark silently takes off the cover to find out it was a truck hiding under it. He opens the door and finds the keys in the ignition and turns it on. "We need to get that diamond. I'll get someone to pick us up and we'll fly to an airport and head to Germany. We can probably make it there by midnight."

Devil is already in the passenger seat and has stopped making a 'physical shell' so that no one else can see him. "Then, we travel to Kawakami by jet to find our next asset." Mark starts driving down the road while pulling out some of his contacts info on the phone, Devil decides to speak to him now rather than later, "Do not feel bad, you did this for your goal."

"…I have my doubts. It doesn't matter, it's done."

Devil shows concern on his face, but Mark is focusing on the road and doesn't notice it. After a few minutes, Devil sighs and looks at the window. He quietly thinks for the rest of the trip to Germany, never giving a hint as to what about.

* * *

Mark blinks to the top of the museum without anybody noticing; not that it's easy to be noticed, all the lights are turned off and no one is on the streets below. He quietly sends a pulse through the building and detects nothing. Before he enters, though, collapses down on the roof and lets out a few quick, pained breaths. Devil quickly moves to his side. "You are pushing yourself, use a few moments to take a quick rest. Your position is…delicate."

"Huff…Yeah, no kidding. Huff…huff…I'll be fine. We're…huff…almost there."

"Yes, we are. And it would be a pity if you fall now. Just because you can see the light at the end of the tunnel does not mean you should blind yourself." Mark gives a quick 'Fine, you win' look at Devil. "Are you sure you do not want me to take control until we get to the diamond?"

"No…huff…I'm fine."

"It will be easier if-"

"I SAID NO! Huff…huff…sorry…huff…I didn't mean to yell."

"I understand. You are in pain. You used the rest of the energy I took from Kawakami getting here from the airport."

Mark slowly gets up. "Exactly, nothing's left. We really are cutting it close."

"I can feel death's blade getting closer myself, but you can escape it…I will sabotage the alarms for you. There is no **normal** way to get in so I suggest you take the direct path." Devil disappears into the building.

After a few more deep breaths, Mark pulls out his sword. He takes a few steps back and points the blade towards the ground. A feels a pang of guilt, but this is remedied when fact that the exhibit his family's Soul Gems are being kept in is called 'trinkets of demons' passes through his head. "Screw you!" he says aloud before thrusting the sword into the roof. It stabs through the roof as if it was butter. With little difficulty, he cuts a crude circle out off the roof and jumps into the newly-made hole.

Devil is waiting for him when he hits the ground. "Who were you talking to?"

"Nothing, just an encouraging shout to get me going."

"…I see. The exhibit is just ahead, you are going to have to cut your way through the metal shutters," Devil gestures to the shutters just in front of him.

Mark walks in front of the shutters and cuts a large triangle and moves through it. "I should have just made a hole over the gems."

"You should have thought about it," says Devil as they turn the corner into another shutter.

Again he cuts a hole. "And you did? Why didn't you tell me?"

They move down the hallway. "Several reasons."

Another barrier quickly cut through. "Such as?"

"First off, you need to learn how to think things through on your own."

"I've been on my own for the past four years!"

"And yet you skipped over something trivial."

Mark slashes through another obstacle. "Okay, you win that one."

"Second, we couldn't risk damaging the Gems."

"Then we could have made a hole just far enough away from the exhibit to not damage the Gems, but close enough to not have to deal with these shutters."

"That conflicts with the third reason."

"Which is?"

"I wanted to deal as much damage as possible to the bastard who calls our family 'demons'."

"We could have done that **after **we got them!"

"Yes, but you would not have wanted to afterwards."

Mark stops in his tracks. "Wait, you're manipulating me?!"

"Somewhat."

"What…the…hell, Devil?!"

Devil just realizes what he was doing and looks away, surprisingly embarrassed. "Sorry, I did not mean to…"

"I trusted you! Are you telling me that you have been manipulating me since the beginning?!"

He quickly looks back and stares into Mark's eyes. "No! This was a one-time accident! I swear I will never do it again!"

"You didn't even know you were doing it! How can I be sure-"

"I got careless! I am sorry. I did not mean to break your trust."

Mark continues to look Devil in the eye for several seconds before talking again. "Okay, I'll let you go this time, but no more manipulating. Not only for me but for everyone else as well, I don't want all of Kawakami turned into your slaves."

"I will not betray you."

Mark looks around and sees the sign pointing to the exhibit down the hall. He runs to the entrance, eager to finally get he needs. When he reaches the end of the hall and turns around the corner like the sign says, the sight renders him speechless.

The gems, all of them, are in display cases hugging the walls. He feels the energy coursing through the room and through him. He walks into the center, where his brother's old Bo staff is displayed. Fond memories of training with him enter his mind and he unconsciously puts his hand on the glass incasing it. Something in the display case on the right is else is reaching out to him, though, calling him. He walks toward it and sees his diamond. It is simply lying there, imprisoned by the glass, waiting to reunite with him. Without a second thought he thrusts his hand through the glass and grabs the diamond.

He raises it so he can see it clearly. It is exactly as he remembered it. He grins and raises his sword. Gently he presses the diamond against the blade, slowly entering and merging with it. As it does, the cracks on the blade disappear and eventually cease to exist. When the diamond fully disappears into the blade, Mark feels a surge of energy course through him, taking away all the tiredness and pain. He feels…complete. Resurrected.

Using his free hand he makes a ball of energy effortlessly. As he returns it into his body, he smiles and looks around. All the other gems are watching patiently. He read in his family's book that other Soul Gems can also be absorbed into the body to grant increased power and use of the Soul Weapons that have been merged with them. He quickly grabs his father's Soul Gem, a trilliant topaz, and takes it into himself. He can feel his power grow slightly and when he summons the Gem into his hand, an old M1911 handgun appears; his father's old weapon.

Mark grabs all of the Gems, unwilling to leave them here, before coming back to his brother's Bo Staff. It wasn't merged with his brother's Soul Gem, which Mark can't absorb.

"You should take it anyway," says Devil, who has been watching everything from the doorway. "We can probably absorb it later; there is probably something in the book about this."

Mark nods and grabs the Bo Staff. He makes his way to Devil.

"Are you ready to go? Are you sure you do not want to try out your family's weapons?"

"There will be time to do that later, in Kawakami, and besides," He unconsciously makes a determined smile, "we have a deadline."


	2. A Fate Changed Ch 1-2

**Chapter 1-2: Return**

"_Things aren't looking so well, Moro. 2-S has over a thousand and we only have three hundred. I'm planning with every brain cell I have. I can't lose this fight. But…I still wouldn't bet on us. Especially since our trump card is on their side."_

_-Naoe Yamato, on the Kawakami War_

* * *

Mark yawns loudly just outside the airport. "Did you get any sleep on the jet?" Devil asks him.

"For most of the ride. I had trouble though and I also woke up earlier than I wanted to." Mark checks his watch: '11:34'. "I was probably just eager to go. Plus I was trying to absorb Tim's Staff and Gem, which I obviously succeeded in."

"I just hope..."

"What are you mumbling? I didn't hear you."

"Nothing important," Devil replies quickly. "What is your plan?"

"Information, everything starts with knowledge," Mark looks off into the distance as he talks. "Our 'asset', as you said, isn't even established either. Not only are we blind, but we wouldn't even know our target if we stumbled on it."

Mark starts walking with no direction in mind and Devil follows him step for step. He listens as he walks for anything of interest. The chances of finding something useful are poor, so he is heading to the house he had the last time he was here. A chance is still a chance, however, and while simply blinking to his destination is certainly quicker, he would rather take the time to find a rumor or small fact or anything.

…

…

He has been walking through crowds for a couple of hours now and he still hasn't heard of anything worth pursuing. Still, he is undeterred. He eventually hears a word makes him stop. He follows the voices to a group of school girls. He pretends to be paying attention to something else as he listens in.

"So you are actually going to join the fight tomorrow?" one of them asks.

"Of course, everyone in the school is in the War," that was the word that piqued Mark's interest.

"But you can get hurt!" the third says. "You should just lay back and watch!"

"Relax. I'm on 2-S's side and they have over three times as many people as 2-F has."

'2-S and 2-F, huh, Yamato's class and that elitist class are finally fighting it out I guess. But what is this about a war? A class feud is hardly worth a war over.'

"You're joining 2-S?! My boyfriend is on 2-F's side!"

"Then tell him to switch sides."

"He can't, he owes their tactician a favor!"

"Huh? Is it just me or does everyone owe that Naoe a favor?"

'So they really **are** talking about Yamato's class…'

The one fighting in the war laughs with a cocky tone. "Not everyone, apparently. They only have three hundred troops versus a thousand! Not only that, but I hear that Kawakami Momoyo is against them as well! It's going to be a slaughter!"

Mark starts to move on. He has heard enough to confirm the facts. The Kazama Family is no doubt involved in this "war" and so if he wants the facts he can ask them. The problem with that is…

He unconsciously stares at Devil. Devil totally destroyed the relationship he had with the Kazama Family. He would be surprised if they didn't attack him on sight. He can tell that Devil knows what he is thinking and can even see some regret in his eyes.

"What are you going to do about this 'war'?" Devil asks.

"Nothing," he replies while shrugging his shoulders. "As fun as a war sounds, we **do** have a goal here."

"A wide-scale battle is a good place to scout people."

"In case you weren't listening, it is a battle between school classes. Isn't that a little young?"

"Potential is not shown through age."

"It isn't potential that's bothering me."

Devil sighs as if he is talking to a child. "You are too embedded in popular culture. You need to break free of those shackles and embrace your own culture if you are going to achieve your goals."

"…I thought **I** was the dramatic one."

"That is not a denial that I have a decent argument."

"Okay, maybe you do have a point. Still, I am reluctant about joining something while uninvited."

Devil laughs. "Uninvited? Your friends are on the losing side right now, they will welcome you with open arms."

Mark thinks about it for awhile. "Maybe," he eventually says.

"You do not have time to remain on the bench; they said that it is tomorrow."

"Let's get set up first, then we can decide."

Devil gives up on the argument with a sigh, "If you say so."

Mark decides to stop and look at Devil for another topic of interest. "How about we try splitting up? Now that we have my diamond it should be easy for us."

"Sure. Where do you want me to go?"

"To the house, I need to pick up a few things since we're here."

"Okay, where is the house?"

"…You don't know? I thought you had my memories."

"We agreed to not look at each other's memories."

"Oh yeah…the address is (blah blah blah)."

"Understood, I will see you there."

Devil blinks out of sight, several blocks away. "Hmm…my previous limitations **have** been removed…" he thinks aloud while still in his spiritual form so no one hears him. "The Family Tome said as much, but I still had my doubts." He creates a physical shell with energy to become visible before dissipating it. He repeats this several times without difficulty. "And I am able to communicate with others physically when separated with Survivor as well. This can be useful."

Devil blinks again, this time straight to the house to wait for Mark.

* * *

Mark uses his key to open the door, mostly to see if it still works. It fits snugly inside the slot and, when he twists, easily opens the door. 'So this is what it feels like to return home after traveling abroad.'

He enters the house and throws the five bags he was carrying onto the couch. Devil is outside, sitting cross-legged in physical form. Mark casually walks into the back yard and joins him.

"Do you really miss the outdoors this much?"

"Yes. Being able to physically interact with the world freely is something many take for granted. Why do you have five bags?"

"One has essentials, soaps, food, etc. The others contain eight sets of clothes, two per bag," Devil turns and looks at him quizzically. "The last time I was here, all of the clothes I had got shredded in fights."

"Are you expecting the same result this time?"

"Hahah, weren't you the one to tell me that an experience should only needs to occur once?"

Devil grins, "I did say that…"

Mark pulls out his phone and pulls up Yamato's contact info. He thinks through the conversation in his head before he hits the 'call' icon.

'Yamato? Yeah, it's me, Mark Silv. Listen, I heard about this 'war' and I was wondering if I can help…I know we fought and Devil came and…Devil's right here next to me…I have him under control…I **do** have him controlled…No, he's not going to hurt anyone else…I understand that you don't want to risk it…Alright, I understand, you don't need my help. I just thought I would offer my assistance…Alright, I'll see you later, Yamato.'

"Are you going to call him or what?" Devil asks somewhat irritably.

"Just thinking things through in my head."

"I have a feeling you expect you are going to be rejected. You will be surprised who people accept when they need help, Survivor. If anything, **he** should be the one calling **you**."

"Hah! There's no way -" At that moment, Mark's phone starts to ring. He reads the ID and is amazed to see that Yamato is the one calling him. He gives Devil a 'how did you know' look (Devil just shrugs) before answering the phone.

"Mark?" an astonished voice asks from the phone.

"Yep, Mark here."

"…I didn't actually expect you to answer."

"I didn't expect you to call. I just came back to Kawakami today."

"Really? Good, I want your help with something."

"The Kawakami War?"

"You heard about it?"

"I heard about the situation. Somewhere along the lines of three hundred versus a thousand and Momoyo?"

He can hear Yamato sigh on the other side. "Things aren't looking so good. Most of my connections have joined the other side. Our chances are practically zero."

"How can I help?"

"I was able to get one trump card, but I wasn't able to contact the other one. Kuki had a last minute change to their roster and allowed us to do the same. I have one spot open and no other good options."

"Count me in!"

"Great! We're going to be at the train station to go to Tanazawa tomorrow. Meet us there."

"Will do," Mark hangs up the phone.

"Was that so hard?" Devil asks. "Worrying is an affliction that must be overcome to be strong."

Mark sighs, "Why are you chiding me?"

"So you get stronger, of course."

"You're sounding like the 'housewife' stereotype." Mark looks to the sky and decides to switch topics. "Are you also wondering why Momoyo is on the other side?"

"She is bored."

"What do you mean?"

"She wishes for something interesting to happen and the only people in her life that she considers interesting are her friends. What's more is that there is no one willing to challenge her nor does she recognize anyone as a decent threat to her rule."

Mark doesn't want to admit it, but Devil and Momoyo are similar in many ways. So much that Mark fears that Momoyo is on a path leading to becoming lost like Devil. But her friends will keep her on her path…right? "How close is Momoyo to becoming the next you?"

"Closer than you already think. Everyone should be worried."

"But her friends keep her in line?"

"It is not long before she sees them as nuisances and rids herself of them, like I tried to get rid of you."

"There is a difference: I stood up to you."

"I attacked because you disappointed me, not because of your ideals."

Silence covers the two. "What do you suggest I do?"

"There is no **good** way to stop her course. You just have to be there for her."

"Or I can help the rest of the Kazamas by telling them how to help her."

Devil gets up and starts to walk inside. "There is no happy ending for me; you have to assume the same for her."

Mark simply stares at the sky as Devil disappears. He lets himself become lost in thought as the rest of the day passes.


	3. A Fate Changed Ch 1-3

**Chapter 1-3: It Begins**

"_I consider myself many things, with a warrior being one of them. I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure that implies that I actually like fighting a good war. That doesn't mean I like the death that follows it. The best war is the one that doesn't involve someone losing their life because of some asshole's opinion."_

_-Mark Silv, Age 19_

* * *

Mark is wearing a black hoodie with a white shirt underneath and dark blue pants for the fight. He is whistling happily on his way to the train station at five o' clock in the morning. Devil can't help but smile. "You are in quite a good mood, Survivor," he states.

"Of course, this is like a vacation for me. Sure I wasn't all that excited yesterday, but after thinking about it I realized that this is exactly my ideal situation."

"The Mercenary in you gets to fight in a war, the Pacifist likes that no one is in real danger, and you get to help your friends and reestablish your connections with them."

"It would only be better if Azumi and Margit showed up and asked me to take a bath together with them!"

"Heh, I would **love** to have Kazama and Naoe join me in that bath."

Mark is horrified by that thought. "Damn it, Devil! You just killed my mood!" Devil laughs sadistically. "And I was in such a good mood. Ugh!"

"Relax, you'll feel better on the field. How did you sleep yesterday?" Devil asks, concerned.

"I slept fine, why are you bothered?"

"Because I care about you, obviously."

Mark quickly smirks. "Thanks, but I'm fine."

"Good, you will lose if you go into this half-hearted."

This time Mark laughs. "You're such a pessimist!"

Devil decides to join in on the laughter. Once they reach the station they blink on top of it and wait for everyone to show up.

…

…

Several hours later, the station is now buzzing with activity. Mark hides his presence as he looks for Yamato. It takes him awhile but he eventually sees him in the crowd. He's with the Kazama Family, naturally, and they don't look at all worried that the friend in the center of them, Kawakami Momoyo, is going to be their enemy.

'So that's what true friendship is. I admire them for that dedication,' Mark thinks. He turns his gaze to Devil who is watching them without any emotion on his face. 'Does he still think that Momoyo is still in danger of losing herself?' Mark shakes his head to get rid of the depressing thoughts. 'This is a war, I should be enjoying this...I get the feeling that I shouldn't say that out loud.'

Mark decides to wait until Momoyo separates with the group before approaching them. He doesn't know if he is supposed to be a secret weapon or something. They enter the station together, but as Mark is about to blink down and follow them, a presence appears as quick as lightning. Mark has to stop himself in mid-flight from jumping off the building to avoid the person behind him. He ends up smashing his head into the nearby wall.

"What, exactly, are you doing?" the presence, an old man, asks as Mark's face grinds down the wall.

Mark sees Devil also look at him curiously before turning to the old man. "Calm down, Survivor, it is Grand Master Kawakami."

Grand Master Kawakami Tesshim, also the principal of the Kawakami High School, turns to Devil, who isn't using a physical shell. "It is nice to see you again, too."

"Just as I expected of you: you can see and hear me, as well," Devil says, completely unruffled.

Mark gets up and brushes himself off as Tesshim speaks, "I'm well-trained spiritually; detecting spirits or ghosts is easy."

"It's good to see you again, Tesshim," says Mark as they shake hands.

"You look better. Did you cure yourself?"

"Yep, I should live a lot longer now."

"That's good to hear. I take it you are here to join the Kawakami War?"

"Correct again. Yamato called me yesterday and asked for my help and I accepted…I guess I should have told you."

Tesshim laughs. "It's alright. Although, I can only allow just one person."

Mark looks at him curiously for several minutes before he gets the hint. "Is it okay for me to leave Devil with you so he can't help me?"

"I'm sorry; do I look like a babysitter?"

"I was just about to ask the same thing," Devil says dryly. Things start to tense up before the two laugh. "I would be honored to be in your company, Grand Master Kawakami."

"I don't suppose a fresh perspective would hurt me either."

Mark realizes how smooth this is going and gets suspicious. "I get the feeling you want me here," he says.

"Today is a special day. Enacting the Kawakami War is rare event!" he replies happily. That just makes Mark more suspicious. He takes a quick glance at Devil, who isn't bothered in the least.

'I guess Tesshim's attitude toward us is "irrelevant", as Devil would say. True, he is powerful and the principal of the school, but Yamato will say that he invited me and then he would have to let me join. Still, something is up and I am curious as to what it is. Tesshim isn't telling so I will need to get my information elsewhere.'

"Is there anything I need for the war?" Mark asks politely.

"Everything you need is being handed out before you get on the train. You need a red colored sash, so your allies and enemies know which side you are on, and you can choose a weapon provided by the school," Tesshim answers.

"Simple enough."

"The battle is won when the enemy commander is taken. However, you cannot use a weapon not provided by the school or lethal force. No guns allowed."

"…That is going to be a problem," Mark says with concern. "I can't really be separated from my sword."

Tesshim doesn't seem to care. "I will allow it. I believe that you can choose whether or not it can harm or kill, correct?"

"Yep, I don't plan on using it lethally. That being said…" Mark summons his father's pistol, which is covered in Topaz-colored light, and hands it to Tesshim. "This was my father's, but you said no guns and I'm willing to play by the rules, so can you take care of it?"

Tesshim eyes gleam when he sees it. "Ahh, a spiritual weapon…I haven't seen one of these in decades. Do you mind if I study it while I have it?" he requests while taking the pistol carefully.

"Not at all, but if you damage it, Devil will go completely ballistic."

Devil cracks his knuckles and laughs slowly. "And I **LOVE** being able to go all out with a reason behind it!" he says grimly with a sadistic smile on his face.

Tesshim ignores Devil. "Thank you. Now, you should go and get on the train before it leaves."

"Have fun, Survivor." Devil tells him.

Mark nods and blinks into the lobby below and puts the hood over his head. He tries to get a look above the crowd to find Yamato, but the mob is too dense. He doesn't want to send out a pulse since that may alert Momoyo so he just walks towards the trains. He makes sure to gauge the strength of the people surrounding him as he moves so he can get a feel of what he's dealing with and what his allies have.

It isn't long before he establishes a clear pattern in the group and he can differentiate between the armies. The weaker units have high morale and are raring to go, obviously 2-F. The others carry themselves as if they are above their fellow troops, but they **are** stronger, clearly 2-S.

'Even though we are outnumbered and outmatched, our will is strong,' Mark thinks. 'If we can keep up our spirits then we have a real chance of winning. If the enemy can be broken, then they might even join **our **side. But there are practically no 2-F soldiers here.'

Mark eventually comes at a fork in the road, one side of the crowd going to the right while the other goes towards the left, where teachers are handing out gear and sashes. He quickly thinks of a weapon he would want. 'I have short and mid range covered…anything that isn't long range will be useless.' He walks up to a 2-F 'vendor', a female teacher with a whip. He remembers seeing her in 2-F's class as the homeroom teacher.

"What weapon do you want?" She asks him.

"Long bow with arrows, please," he says as politely as he can.

"Oh, Naoe has another archer besides Shiina," she says as if relieved as she gets a bow and a quiver and gives it to him. He grabs the bow and puts his right arm and his head between the string and the limbs and lets the bow rest there, opposite of his sword. The arrow quiver comes with a a couple of hooks so he simply puts it on his waist. "The entire archery club joined 2-S, except for Shiina."

"I'm guessing by your tone that would prefer it if 2-F won?"

"I know we shouldn't pick favorites but I can't help myself."

There is no one waiting to get a weapon on 2-F's side so he continues talking to her. "I can understand that, aren't you their homeroom teacher?"

"Yes, but everyone agreed not to pick sides."

"It's harder than it looks. No doubt the other teachers are siding with 2-S."

She sighs, "I think you're right."

He smiles brightly and speaks in a reassuring and understanding voice. "You're watching them grow; there is nothing wrong for wanting to side with them."

"Thanks, I hope that's true…"

"It is true," Mark gives a small laugh. "Don't worry, I'll keep your secret. I'd be a fool to betray someone so beautiful."

She giggles. "Thanks."

On the other side of the station Tesshim and Devil are watching Mark and the teacher. "Who is that?" Devil asks Tesshin.

"Kojima Umeko, 2-F's homeroom teacher. Is he hitting on her?"

"I would like to believe he is trying to gain her favor if he needs it. But more likely, he is simply trying to console her. Survivor is a bit boring like that."

"You want him to manipulate people?"

"No, I want Survivor to be who he is."

"Why do you keep calling him 'Survivor' instead of 'Master'?" Tesshin asks curiously. "The last time you were here you kept calling him 'Master'."

"Survivor prefers that I refrain from referring to him as Master since he does not like the term."

Tesshim thinks about that for a bit before asking another question. "Then why don't you simply call him Mark, or Silv?"

"The same reason I put 'Grand Master' in front of your name, Grand Master Kawakami; Respect towards the title he has earned."

"Ah, so is this why you prefer to have yourself called 'Devil'?"

"Somewhat. A name alone means nothing."

"So you would call Momoyo Warrior Goddess?"

Devil scoffs. "No. She is neither a warrior nor a goddess and thus she does not deserve her name. If anything she is just a battle-hungry thug."

Tesshim responds with silence for several moments, but when Devil doesn't acknowledge it, he talks again. "…You **do **know that I'm her **grandfather**?"

"So?"

"Don't you think that your comment would offend me?"

"It would only offend you if you were blind to the fact. You know I speak the truth."

Tesshim is at a loss for words. No one has ever said that Momoyo was simply a thug so blatantly or surely. He knows he should be mad, but he isn't. He is simply saying what he believes is the truth. Begrudgingly, he accepts Devil's opinion but refuses to see it as anything more than that. He silently walks after he decides that.

Devil follows him silently, he knows what he said might have made Tesshim uncomfortable, but he feels that he needed to have said it for Mark's concern for Momoyo. 'Kawakami needs intervention,' Devil thinks. 'Survivor does not want her to become like me, nor I.'

Meanwhile, Mark is still talking to Umeko. No one else has shown up yet so he doesn't feel the need to hurry. "I thought I had recognized you!" she exclaims. "Why are you under that hood?"

"Me joining the army wasn't exactly shouted from the rooftops. I'm not sure if Yamato wanted my presence to be a secret."

"I think you made the right call. Naoe needs as many edges as he can get to outsmart Aoi."

"Is that the enemy tactician?"

"Aoi is one of the smartest students in the school. Beating him is no easy task."

"Yamato is pretty smart, this Aoi really must be clever to be a challenge to him," Umeko simply nods. "Well, I don't really see Hideo as a person who likes to be commanded."

"Kuki considers Aoi his only friend and respects him, but I expect that Kuki will ignore some of Aoi's suggestions."

Another teacher walks over to the two. "What are you talking about Kojima-sensei?"

"Nothing important."

Mark looks at the teacher, he looks old and has grey hair and a beard…and Mark suspects the teacher is threatened by him. "Oh well, I guess I should go. Can I have that red cloth, miss…"

"Oh, my name is Kojima Umeko, but everyone calls me Kojima-sensei," she hands him the red cloth he was indicating as she says her name. "Are you sure you don't want a sash?"

"Sashes aren't really my thing. Do you mind if I call you Umeko? I'm not your student so it feels kind of wrong if I call you sensei."

"Hmm…" she slightly blushes, "I guess its okay. Wait, what was your name again?"

"My name is Mark Silv, but you can call me Mark."

The other teacher tries to get a word in between the two. "Aren't you being a little friendly? How do I know you aren't trying to get an extra edge in the war?"

Mark pretends to look horrified. "Are you suggesting that Umeko would be willing to break the rules?"

"Uh, what?" Mark can see in his eyes that he knows where this is going.

"Do you really think of Umeko like that?"

Umeko is staring at him coldly. "No, of course not! I have the highest respect for Kojima-sensei!"

"…I guess I believe you," Mark says. He can practically see the sweat drops on his head; Kojima hasn't stopped the piercing stare. "Look I have a favor to ask. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to keep my name a secret. Please don't tell 2-S."

"I won't! Seriously, I won't Kojima-sensei!"

"Okay, then. I'll see you later Umeko!" He waves to them as he makes his way to the 2-F train.

"Bye!" Umeko calls after him while waving. The other teacher also waves as a gesture of goodwill.

Mark looks from the front to the back of the train. It has several cars and it looks like the least important troops are in the latter cars. He goes into the second to last car and sits down in one of the seats close to the front while putting his bow in the seat next to him. He looks around the car and sees that he is surrounded by thugs that Yamato must have convinced to join 2-F.

Mark takes the red cloth and expertly ties it around the pommel of his sword with one hand and without looking. As he waits for the train to move he pulls out the Family Tome in his book bag and starts memorizing the specific entries of one of his ancestors.

* * *

The train starts to move. Mark looks outside the window and watches the station fade from view. The stalls, weapons, and teachers are gone now, along with most of the crowd. He closes the tome and puts it back in the bag before getting up, putting the bow back, and moving to the next car. Yamato isn't here either; he is probably in the front-most car.

He slowly makes his way through the cars while dodging moving weapons the users aren't handling properly. A spear very nearly pokes his eye. Luckily, as he moves further up he doesn't have to duck and dodge as many weapons; in fact the second to first car has no weapons at all. He can see two guys in this car that have expensive bags that probably hold cameras.

"3D girls suck, why are you so obsessed with taking pictures of them?" the pale one asks.

"It would be weirder if I didn't take pictures of them!"

"Hmph, and what's wrong with moe 2D girls?"

"I like pictures of them, too, but there is nothing like the real deal."

"As if you know what that is."

Mark is about to pass them when a big student stands up and gets in his way and barks at him. "FOOD!"

Mark jumps back in sheer surprise and very nearly draws his weapon. "Oookay?"

The student practically gets on his knees. "Please, I need food! I'm so hungry!"

The pervert talking with the pale student pulls him back up and calms him down. "Don't worry Kuma-chan, we'll feed you in a bit." 'Kuma' heads back into the couple of seats barely containing him and Mark squeezes through. 'What the hell was that about?!' Mark thinks as he goes exits the car.

Once he enters the next car he sees Yamato and the rest of the Kazama Family along with a few others Mark hasn't met yet. Yamato turns when he hears the door open and is about to wave when some guy gets in his way.

"Where do you think you're going?!" the man demands.

Mark looks him down head to toe before pulling him by the scruff of his shirt and giving him a stare that can kill. "Leave!" he says with a firm voice.

"Okay man, okay, sorry!" he sputters as he moves past Mark and leaves the car. Once the man leaves, Mark looks around the first class car and briskly walks into the far corner while acknowledging Yamato with a nod. Yamato nods back tentatively. Gakuto gets in his way, he doesn't know who Mark is with the hood on. Yamato signals to Gakuto and he reluctantly lets him pass. Once Mark reaches the corner he pulls out a bit a fake carpet and exposes a electronic bug made by the Kuki conglomerate. He quickly steps on it.

Mark turns to Yamato, with the phone that he had secretly pick-pocket from the guy and speaks, "You need to be more careful, that guy I kicked out was a spy."

"I know, I was purposely feeding him information," Yamato explains with a shrug. He gets up from his seat and they shake hands.

"You know him?" asks Capt.

"You all do," then Mark looks at the others he doesn't recognize. "Okay, most you know me."

"Do I know you?" asks the class president.

"A little. Yamato, did you want me to keep my identity hidden or you don't care?"

"Now that the spy is gone, you can go ahead and show your face."

Mark does as he's told and takes off the hood and straightens his back so everyone can see his face. "Mark!" the Kazama Family exclaim, except for Miyako.

The other person in the car, a muscular punk, asks Kazuko, "Is this the Mark from a month ago?"

"Uh-huh, this is Mark Silv! He helped me get more powerful!"

"You told me." The punk casually walks up to Mark, who looks at him quizzically, before being punching Mark hard in the face.

"Tacchan!" yells Kazuko while others just shout "Gen-san!" Mark spits out blood, but he doesn't go down even after staggering a bit. When he looks the punk is shaking his hand but isn't letting the pain show on his face. Mark slowly gets up.

"It's nice to meet you, too," he says casually as if nothing happened. "So what's your name?"

"Just call me Gen-san, everyone else does," Gen-san says as he puts his back on the wall.

"Why did you hit Mark, Tacchan?!" Kazuko asks.

"Because he pissed me off."

Mark lets it go and instead turns to everyone else. "It's good to see you guys again!"

"It's good to see you, too!" Capt welcomes him. Everyone else is a little more reserved though.

"Are you still dying?" Miyako asks indifferently. No doubt she is mad at him for last time. And especially for Devil. How can one forget seeing the person she cares the most about being taken away from her?

"No, I was able to cure myself."

"Pity, what about Devil?"

Mark hesitates for a few moments. "He's alive too." Nobody speaks for several seconds, so Mark decides to clarify. "I have control over him; he isn't going to hurt anyone again."

"…Is he here?" Moro hesitantly asks.

"No, he's with Tesshim. He wasn't allowed to come since you only had one slot available." Everyone gives a collective sigh of relief. "Switching topics, I would have thought that Cookie robot would have been here."

"He was forced to ride in the last car since we are pretending he's a toy," says Mayucchi.

In the last car…

"**…I'm not a toy…**"

Back to the first car…

"I suppose I can see that thread of logic. Anyway, I thought I should meet you before the battle starts so you can have some time to plan with some of the skills I brought."

"Besides being really hard to put down?" Yamato says jokingly.

"Yep, I have been studying the techniques of my ancestors," Mark pulls the Tome out of his bag to indicate where he learned said techniques. "For about three weeks I have been memorizing every page I can in this Tome, and I am confident in my ability to create a Sigil Trap."

"Sigil Trap?"

"That's what she named it. Hold on," He opens the Tome and reads out a passage. "The Sigil Trap a flexible trap made of soul energy and can create fire, lightning, explosions, earthquakes, and extreme cold. When placed down in the Spirit World (that's what they called it in her time) the trap waits until its commander shouts. Now armed, the commander can choose whether to activate the trap on command or to have the Sigil wait until an enemy enters its sight whereupon it will activate. Sigils have the power to destroy an entire army when used correctly and can be commanded to not kill so as the commander can take hostages."

"Whoa, that's amazing!" Kazuko says excitedly and quickly takes the Tome from Mark. "Let me see…huh? It's just a bunch of lines running down the page!"

Mark calmly grabs back the Tome. "It was made so that only users of the Aura Arts can read it," he explains. "It is also protected with countless barriers so it is nearly impossible to destroy or deface."

"It can destroy an entire army," Yamato thinks aloud. "That certainly can be useful."

"There has to be a catch to something so powerful," Chris states.

"Hahahah, oh there are so much more powerful things written in this Tome, but you are correct, there are a few of catches," Mark replies.

This time Gen-san talks angrily, which Mark suspects is a deflector of kinds, "Then tells us that first, damn it!"

"I'll tell you now. Catch number one is that while she indeed wrote down 'destroy an entire army' I'm not sure she means physically, but emotionally. While the Sigil Trap does pack a punch, it is mostly a morale crusher."

"So how big of an area does it affect?" asks Mayucchi.

"It can easily wipe out a unit. Second catch is the amount of energy I put in determines the strength, so if you want a really effective trap, I won't be able to use my powers for a few minutes **after** it detonates."

"That sounds reasonable," says Chris.

"Lastly…well this is less of a catch and more of a user thing: I haven't **actually** made a Sigil Trap before."

Only the sounds of the train can be heard in the car. Eventually Yamato speaks, "So…you have no idea if it actually works?"

"Oh, it'll work. But I'm not exactly sure if my personal take from it is one hundred percent accurate. It may actually kill us all!"

The class president practically shrieks, "WHAT?!"

Mark laughs impishly, "I may have been over exaggerating that last part." Mark becomes more serious. "I was hoping to try it out now."

"You can't be serious!" Moro almost shouts.

"Relax, I was just going to make a little one as a demonstration, with everyone's permission, obviously."

Everyone looks at Yamato, who nods, "Alright, but only on **that **side of the train."

"Don't worry, if it makes you feel better, my ass is the only one likely to get blown off," everyone looks at each other uneasily as Mark kneels down and clears a small area on the floor and even digs a bit to mark the spot. Then he steps back with the others. "Alright, now I am going to set it right where I marked. I'm going to choose the one called 'Beautiful Chaos'."

"And what does that one do?" Gakuto asks.

"No idea," Mark sets reaches out spiritually and places the Sigil as it said in the Tome. "Okay now to activate it, (switches to Chinese) **Command**!**"** a few sparks erupt from the marked point for a moment before disappearing. "(Still in Chinese) **Attack!**"

Loud sounds erupt from the point along with fires of many colors, with lightning jumping between the flames. And then the flames turn to ice instantly before exploding loudly, leaving nothing to indicate it existed.

"That was actually pretty!" Chris says while clapping her hands.

"It **was** kinda beautiful," the class president says shyly.

"Do it again!" demands Kazuko.

"Are you sure **that** can destroy armies?" Gen-san asks dubiously.

"Imagine it about a thousand times bigger and louder that came out of nowhere, decimated a fellow unit, and left nothing behind that can explain it. My ancestor was behind a great Chinese General. If she says it works then I'm siding with her," Mark defends.

Everyone looks at Yamato for the final opinion. "I have to see the battlefield first but it **can** come in handy," he explains. "I can definitely see it as a diversionary tactic, and if it wipes out a unit then their morale will plummet."

"Well, I figured I should let you know about it. You're the Tactician, not to mention my employer as well, so if you don't want to use it that's fine, too."

"Thanks for showing it to us. Now we know what the Sigil Trap is if we see it."

"I want to see it again! Bigger this time!" exclaims Capt.

"Not inside, sorry."

"Aww."

"Mostly though," Yamato begins, "I wanted you for when Nee-san becomes a threat. You are the only person I have seen that can successfully hold her off. Mayucchi is going to help you if possible along with our final trump card. You three are going to have to keep her occupied for at least several minutes since we have less troops than I had thought we would have. I don't have to mention how much of a secret this needs to be."

"I figured as much. Don't worry about her in that case, I can keep her off you for a few days if necessary!"

"That's a big boast!" Mayucchi replies.

"I'm now at full power. We **will** win this war."


	4. A Fate Changed Ch 1-4

**Chapter 1-4: First Step**

"_Friendship is caring for and trusting someone, even if they may be your enemy. If you end up fighting a 'friend' on the field and you are still able to treat them the same as normal during and afterwards; that is what true friendship is. I only have you as a friend. How do I know? I killed all possible threats to me."_

_-Devil_

* * *

The 2-S camp is relaxed despite the imminent battle. Azumi is at Hideo's side as he calls for the War Council. Aoi Touma, 2-S's tactician, places the Tanazawa map on the table and marks every location of interest as well as all the units' location. He is able to accurately detail where the enemies are due to the spies placed in the 2-F's army. His friends are with him; a lolicon named Inoue Jun, and Sakakibara Koyuki, a pale girl with white hair and a peculiar attitude.

Margit Eberbach, the Hound, eagerly looks at the map and is memorizing every little detail in it. Fushikawa Kokoro, whom Azumi can barely stand, gracefully walks over to the table and waits for the council to start. Azumi doubts anything said here will enter her oblivious skull. Then the Archery President from class 3-F also comes to the table, Azumi doesn't know much about her, except that her archery and commanding skills are phenomenal. Finally there is…

Kawakami Momoyo, the Warrior Goddess, quite possibly the strongest person in the world. As much of a boon it would seem to be to have her on 2-S's side, no one expects her to do anything in this battle. She is easily bored and the condition of her joining is that she decides when to join the fray. Nonetheless, she joins everyone at the map.

She listens as Touma explains the situation. It doesn't amount to anything clever, Azumi summarizes, 'we have 1050 and they have 300, let's not fuck this up because that will really be embarrassing'. "Our 'special troops' will be behind you, Hideo." Touma informs Hideo-sama.

"That's a shame…I wanted to see their capabilities firsthand, but this war is more important," Hideo-sama says in his usual firm voice.

"They will join you after the battle starts. We need to be prepared for unexpected enemy attacks. We are missing information on several F army troops and I expect them to be crucial in their plans."

"Nyohoho," Kokoro laughs. "How can a few measly troops hope to change anything?"

"Even though we vastly outnumber F army, they can still be a threat. We can expect ambushes directly ahead of you, Hideo. Do not pursue the enemy if they retreat."

"Fuahahaha, Touma, my friend, you worry too much!" As much as Azumi prefers caution in battle, she agrees with Hideo-sama. It's just too big a difference.

Touma speaks directly to her, "Azumi, I want you to protect Hideo from the shadows."

"What about my unit?" she asks.

"Let your second-in-command lead them. The F army will try and end this early so we need your skills to protect Hideo from assassins."

She nods, "I was nervous about leaving Hideo-sama's side anyway."

"Fuahaha," Hideo laughs. "As expected from my personal maid!"

"Hideo-sama~" Azumi says in a cute voice that is belies her normal behavior. She only shows this side of her for Hideo-sama, the person she loves and has devoted her life to.

'I will win this battle for Hideo-sama!' she thinks.

* * *

Yamato has called everybody over for the F war council. Mark put the hood over his head before they got off the train, it's a small chance that someone will recognize him, but they could take a picture or describe him over the phone and the S army could recognize him. The chance is close to zero, but Mark prefers caution in battle.

"…déjà vu?" he mumbles so quietly no one hears him. He quickly shrugs it off and walks to the table with the map along with everyone else. He memorizes as much as he can on the map and admires the accuracy in which Yamato has predicted the enemy movement.

"Okay," Yamato starts, "it's obvious that we can't win with conventional tactics, we're going to have to play this very carefully. I'm going to have to make sudden commands and some of you won't know what's fully going on until afterwards, but that is our only option. Our designations are the same, though. Gen-san and Wanko are going to be on the front lines, Miyako is our sniper, Chris is lead white squadron, and Capt is leading Gakuto and black squadron. Mayucchi and Mark are our specialists and are going to be moving in secret. Me, Moro, and the rest of the intelligence unit will be giving out commands by phone, so keep them at the ready. Understood?" Everyone nods in acknowledgement.

"Yamato, I don't have enough men to hold the front line," Gen-san states.

"It's only temporary. I want you to engage and retreat south where the ambush units will be waiting."

"Isn't that a little obvious?"

"Kuki won't care. Mark, you will have to move quickly. I want you to place the Sigil Trap here," Yamato points to a location just to the southeast of an enemy unit, "This unit will try and reinforce Kuki and is relatively big so I want you to place a ninety percent trap. Then quickly move behind the S main army as they're advancing and rain down as many arrows as you can in various locations to make them think that they have been surrounded."

"Ninety percent is reasonable enough, I won't be able to use my barrier and blinking at the same time, but that shouldn't be a problem," Mark says with confidence.

"Good, Moro will give you your next objectives so pay attention to your phone. The intelligence unit will take the east mountain…"

…

…

"…And that's it for now. I'll let you know if we have to change strategies," Yamato finishes and everyone nods and disperses. Mark thinks over something for several moments before chasing after Chris.

"Hey Chris," he says just loud enough so that she can hear him.

"What is it Mark?" she asks.

"Maru-san, is it okay if I fight her?"

"But I wanted to fight Maru-chan! She was going to test my skills!" she protests.

"I figured as much, but I may be forced to fight her since we're enemies."

"Can't you just avoid her?"

"I want to, but I may not have a choice in the matter."

"Hmm…just like Yamatomaru's Dream Diary…" she says quietly while thinking.

"Yamatomaru's Dream Diary?"

"Yeah, in one of the episodes two friends were forced to fight each other in a battle," she explains while becoming more and more excited with each word. "They didn't want to fight but they couldn't leave the battlefield either! It was so cool when Yamatomaru was able to stop him from delivering the killing blow!"

"Er…Chris, you need to focus on the here and now."

"Hm? Oh right, sorry. I guess if you have no choice than I wouldn't have a problem with it."

"Good, then I should get going and find a vantage point. Good luck, Chris," Mark says.

"You too, Mark," Chris replies before jogging over to her 'White Squadron.'

Mark blinks to the top of the nearest tree, and after quickly scouting the area, jumps or blinks from tree to tree to make his way to the middle of the battlefield. He stops once he reaches the last tree before the opening. He looks and makes a mental map of the area, marking trees, potential paths, and where the armies are going to clash. As soon as he finishes, he hears Tesshim shout that there are only three minutes left before he battle starts.

He is about to blink over the gap between the tree he's on and the one opposite of the clearing when he sees Miyako looking at the trees. Figuring he still has some time left, he jumps down to talk to her.

"Miyako, do you need any help?" he asks politely. She just ignores him and jumps up to reach for a tree branch, but it remains out of her reach. She tries a few more times before Mark talks again, "I can give you a boost if you want."

"Just leave me alone," she angrily snaps back.

Mark sighs. "I know you're mad at me for what happened a month ago, but that was Devil's fault, not mine."

"No, it **is** your fault! You're the one who chose to fight back!"

"You're right, I did choose to fight, but I didn't want anybody to get hurt."

Miyako looks directly at Mark with fury in her eyes. "Stop acting like you know how I felt when I almost lost Yamato!"

"I know what it's like; the only difference is that I didn't get back what I lost," Miyako's eyes still have their killing edge but they **do** soften a little bit. "I'm not here to have a contest, I'm here to help Yamato, and the best way to do that is if we help each other. You know that. So, do you want a boost up or not?"

Miyako doesn't say anything for awhile but Mark doesn't relent either. "Fine," she eventually gives in, "but tell Devil that if he ever hurts Yamato again-"

"You'll hunt him down and give him a slow, painful and a creative death that I don't want to repeat. He already knows."

"Good." Mark squats down and put his hands together so Miyako can have a foothold. She quickly puts her foot up on his hands and he launches her up. She easily lands on the branch and starts to climb her way up. "By the way," she calls down, "You only have thirty arrows in that quiver of yours, and so you might have to improvise."

"You can tell that just by looking at it?"

"I'm a master archer, of course I can tell how many arrows are in a quiver just by looking."

"Alright, I'll do something about it," Mark finishes with a smile. He turns and blinks towards the opposite side of the ravine. He can't reach his destination with one blink so he is forced to double-blink: Rapidly chaining two blinks together. Multi-blinking is quite physically taxing though, so Mark doesn't use the technique too often.

As soon as he reaches the top of another nearby tree, he hears another shout from Tesshim, "Kawakami War, START!"

Shouts emerge from the armies as they charge. Mark has a great view of the armies, and it isn't looking good for the F army. The S main army is huge, consisting of around four hundred soldiers, including Hideo and his bodyguards. As they clash noisily, Mark makes his way to the point Yamato designated on the map to place the Sigil Trap. He stays in cover as long as he can, but the trap is going to be placed in an opening, so he is going to be in the open as he's placing it. He looks around briefly before blinking to a suitable location.

"Okay, ninety percent," he mumbles aloud as he places down the Sigil spiritually. He pours his energy into the trap. Once he's finished he quickly gets up and blinks north into yet another tree. "Ugh, yep, I can only blink **or **have my barrier up. Okay let's see if I really do have to 'shout' my commands."

He sends out a pulse to communicate with the Sigil, which sparks up as if it recognizes him. 'Okay, I think that activated it,' he thinks. He sends another pulse to set the trap. The sigil once again sparks up before disappearing. 'It's set, now onto part two.'

Mark quickly moves along the tree line and readies his bow. Once he gets into position, the F army starts to fall back. He nocks the arrow and puts some of his energy in it. As the arrow soars the energy will break off into several pieces and strike down as if it were other arrows. Mark pulls back the string and lets the arrow fly. As the arrow arcs downward, the energy breaks off as planned and takes down a small group of soldiers.

"Ambush!" says one of the soldiers behind the group of fallen soldiers. "We have archers behind us!"

Mark doesn't stay still and jumps along from tree to tree, shooting an arrow every other tree. He quickly notices as some troops stay behind as Kuki charges forward, effectively cutting out half of the army from Kuki. 'Nice thinking, Yamato.'

"Do we have shields?!" one of the soldiers cries out.

"No, the shields are in another-argh!" Mark shot the responder.

"C-crap!"

Mark blinks directly over the ravine, fires another powered arrow and blinks onto another tree, adding even more confusion to the S army.

"Where in the hell are they?!"

"That last barrage came from where we were! How is that-ugh?!"

'You shouldn't think about it too hard,' Mark thinks as he continues his hell-raising. The S main army has now been ambushed by the other troops and is now in complete disarray. He can see Hideo try and keep his men in order while one of his bodyguards, a bald one, get up on his platform and look out for any arrows that may come from any direction. Mark doubts that his bow can reach that far even if he wanted to hit Hideo. Nonetheless, he fires on a handful of soldiers directly behind Hideo to spread out the forces some more.

* * *

Azumi is in the woods trying to get a bead on the ass shooting arrows on the S main army. 'He's quick, I'll give him that,' she says in her head. 'Could it be Shiina? No, she would have a longbow fit for sniping and the arrows would have a longer trajectory. Naoe must have brought in another archer.'

She quickly makes her way through the trees on the ground. Luckily, she hears a cell phone vibrate, it came from above. She jumps up onto a branch and cautiously walks to where she heard the sound, all without making a sound. She sees the guy with the bow looking at his phone and facing away from her. Using this opportunity, Azumi slowly sneaks up with her wakizashi drawn. As she gets closer, she raises her weapons. The man's instincts alert him and he spins around right as she swings down. He catches her by the arms and they both end up falling to the ground.

They both hit the ground on their side and quickly roll away from each other. Azumi only sees half of his face, which is expertly being hid with his black hood, but she quickly figures out who he is. "Mark, how are you doing?"

"Heh, I guess I shouldn't have expected that the hood would fool an expert like you. I'm okay, just working, you know how it is."

Despite the casual conversation growing neither of them let down their guard. "Yeah, I know," she says casually, hoping he will let down his guard. "You picked the wrong side, if you had called I would have told you that earlier."

"Possibly, anyway, I hope that what I'm about to do won't break our friendship or anything."

"I know that your position here isn't personal," Azumi assures him while looking at him somewhat curiously. "What are you going to do?"

"Well I was planning on-" Mark turns and runs towards Hideo-sama, Azumi quickly follows after him.

"You know I'm faster than you!" she shouts after him. Then she yells at Jun, "Baldie! Do your job and watch out behind you!"

Jun turns and gets himself between Mark and Hideo-sama. Azumi pulls out several kunai that she had covered in a neurotoxin that freezes up anybody that gets cut by it. She throws them directly at Mark who dodges most of them and spins around to catch one between his fingers.

'SHIT!'

Mark aims and throws at Hideo-sama. "Baldie, watch the kunai!" Jun sees it and gets in its way. Azumi uses a burst of energy and tackles Mark to the ground. As they fall, he spins to face her. She slashes down with both of her wakizashi; he turns to evade one and stops the other by grabbing her arm. She puts her weight down on his hips so he can't get up. "I caught you!" she says triumphantly with a sadistic grin on her face.

Mark looks at where she's at on him and slowly looks up to her face. "…I didn't know you liked this position." She slaps him hard on the cheek after he says that perverted comment. "I deserved that."

"If you don't give up I'm going to hit you more."

"I tell you what, I'll give up if my employer doesn't have another objective for me and you can spend the rest of the afternoon torturing me," he replies with a half-joking voice. "I've had worse afternoons."

"Why would he give you another objective after you've failed this one?" she says as Jun falls off the platform and on his face; the neurotoxin is setting in.

Mark responds with silence and Azumi sees the truth too late to do anything.

* * *

Miyako now has a clear shot, lines it up, and puts her power into the arrow before firing at Hideo's temple. It flies straight, exactly as she wanted it. Then, through sheer luck, Kuki moves. He's knocked off of his platform and falls back on the ground but he isn't knocked unconscious, as Yamato wanted. "Damn it!" Miyako mutters. She can't get another shot at Kuki from here so she takes out the bodyguards one by one.

* * *

Mark moves his hand quickly up Azumi's skirt as she realizes what is happening.

"Hideo-sama!" she cries out as she gets off of Mark and runs to Hideo's side. Mark gets to his feet as Azumi puts Hideo on her shoulder while deflecting Miyako's arrows. She quickly grabs for her smoke bombs, but they aren't there. Once again she connects the dots.

This time, Mark is the one smiling triumphantly with her smoke bomb pouch in his hand. The last time he was here he flipped up her skirt mischievously and saw all of Azumi's weapons and where, under her skirt, she kept them. 'Sorry' he mouths to her. "Hideo Kuki has been wounded!" he shouts over the fighting. "Push now!"

A loud battle cry bursts from F army and they break through the front lines. The S main army's morale is now completely shot and they start to retreat. Azumi calls to the bodyguards, "Hold them off!" Azumi carries Hideo away from the front as Miyako fires arrow after arrow at Hideo.

Mark blinks over the guards and sprints towards Hideo, dodging Azumi's kunai, shuriken, and anyone unfortunate enough to get in her way. Mark can see the incoming reinforcements, led by Margit, from the north and another unit coming from the west. 'I have to get him before they do!' But every advance he makes is blocked by one of Azumi's projectiles.

"Hideo-sama, can you stand?" he hears her ask.

"Yes, Azumi, but I can't stand straight."

"Good, I'll keep them away from you, Hideo-sama~!"

"Fuahaha, yes Azu-"

**BANG! FO-WHOOSH!**

The Sigil Trap was set off by the western reinforcements and the noise and fire shocks the armies. Like before, lightning arcs between the multi-colored licks of flame in a spectacular display before the outside of the energy flash freezes, forcing the internal energy to build pressure and power before exploding, making a louder sound than before.

Everyone one is awestruck, even Mark. When he looks at the unit that set off the trap he sees them all on the ground, unconscious. Gen-san's voice is the first to shout out, "Keep pushing for the enemy commander; that was a friendly explosion!"

"That was by F army!" shouts Chris; the White Squadron must have helped with the ambush.

"Right! Keep pushing!" once again the F army stampedes forward and overtakes Mark. As Mark is about to join them, he gets a call from Moro.

Mark runs as he answers the call. "Moro, what's up?"

"Capt is going to attack from the east and Yamato is saying that Azumi and Margit are going to try and stop him. Yamato wants you to protect him from those two."

"What about Margit's unit?"

"Gakuto can handle them."

"Alright then, will do," as Mark hangs up he sees Capt and Gakuto rush from the forest. He quickly blinks forward to them and runs to intercept Azumi and Margit, who are doing what Yamato predicted. Mark puts power into his hands before blinking in front of them as they prepare to strike the fearless Capt. He quickly grabs them by their clothes and blinks again, with them, into the forest.

* * *

They both kneel over in a coughing fit. Mark simply sits down in a relaxed position and waits for them to recover. "What…was that?" Azumi moans.

"It was like…being drowned in freezing cold water while you are taking a hot bath…" Margit replies with a shiver.

"No…it was like falling onto a steel floor four stories up without the pain."

"Everyone experiences blinking differently," Mark says with a shrug. "My first experience was like trying to walk straight after ten hours in a tumble drier."

"God…that was blinking?" Azumi groans.

"Yep, I could multi-blink you if you want, that's about ten times as worse for each blink."

"Ten…times?!" Margit says unbelievingly.

Mark nods, "I can only blink myself five or six times in a row. You can get used to it if you do it over and over and over again. Provided that you know which way the ground is and you aren't afraid of falling to your death."

They both groggily get up, with a tree to help support them. Azumi tries to walk, "I need to get back to Hideo-sama." After a few steps she stumbles forward, but Mark catches her.

"You need to regain your balance first, and you don't even know where you are."

"I can't just lie back…"

"I'm not giving you a choice. You are going to sit down, figure out which way is up, and then we are probably going to fight."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, we can talk first if you prefer."

"Fine," she gives up. "That was quite a maneuver you did with Baldie."

"I didn't really have another choice," he apologizes.

"I meant that in a good way, I would have done the same."

Margit interrupts. "Azumi, we shouldn't be talking with the enemy."

"It's not like we can do anything else, at least for now."

"Well…I'm not talking to him."

Mark sighs, "Are you mad at me for declaring war on Germany?"

"No, it's not that I'm angry, but…I don't know."

"Wait," Azumi speaks, "you declared war on Germany?!"

"Margit's CO tried to pay me with a fake payment."

"Hahaha, I hated when that happened to me."

"To make matters worse I needed that payment to live."

Azumi turns to Margit, "Hey Hound, your boss is an ass."

"He can't endorse mercenaries so he had no choice!"

"…You really believe that third-rate excuse?"

Margit opens her mouth but doesn't respond. She is starting to doubt Frank, and Mark can't blame her. He decides to switch the topic. "Are you two doing better?"

"I can see straight if that's what you're asking."

"Just checking, you know I'm actually looking for a…partner. I don't suppose either of you two are interested?"

Margit is the first to respond, "Considering your relationship with Lieutenant General, I don't think I can."

Azumi takes a little longer, "I'm not sure if I can leave Hideo-sama that easily."

"That's fine, you can think about it for awhile, but I'm on a deadline so I can't wait forever."

The two women look at each other before asking the same question, "What deadline?"

"I…can't say. Anyway I suppose that we have delayed long enough. Are you ready to fight?" Margit brandishes her tonfa and Azumi draws her wakizashi. "Yep, you're ready to fight."

Margit lunges forward with a kick which Mark quickly sidesteps while drawing his sword. Azumi continues the assault with shuriken, but Mark deflects them all with his sword. Margit spins with her tonfa outstretched and Mark ducks under them. Azumi closes in with her swords and Mark steps back a few times as he dodges them. Margit jumps over her as she's striking and strikes upward, he ducks under the strike and kicks her away over Azumi, who leaps forward and slashes with both of her weapons. He quickly blocks one blade with his sword and catches Azumi's other hand.

She performs a back flip with her legs stretched to hit him and he is forced to let go. As she's airborne, she throws several shuriken. He rolls to his left and avoids them. Margit lunges forward with a tonfa straight, and he spins to the side and cuts her leg, making her fall. Azumi jumps and attacks to prevent him from finishing off Margit, Mark blocks the slashes with his sword and, with a grunt, pushes her up before delivering a slash to her stomach. But she spins while in the air, reducing the damage the strike would have caused.

Margit has recovered and kicks Mark behind his leg, forcing him to his knees, and Margit continues the attack with a tonfa strike to the side of his head. He is sent rolling by the powerful impact, but he quickly regains his balance just in time to see Azumi, still in the air, spin and kick a tree to send her flying at high speeds towards Mark. He blocks the first slash, but the second hits his collarbone. She continues her rolling motion and lands on Mark's shoulders, grabs him with her legs, and then turns him and uses her weight to slam him into the ground.

Mark takes the motion in stride and uses it to quickly get back on his feet. "Is it just me or have you two gotten stronger?" he asks as soon as he gets back up.

Azumi smiles, "No, but the last time we faced you we thought you were Devil. Now that we know you're a swordsman we can adjust to that."

"**Aura** swordsman," he corrects. "I hurt people's aura instead of cutting them physically. For example, if I cut through your leg, you won't be able to use it as if I had really cut off your leg, at least for awhile."

"And why are you telling us this," Margit asks.

"I just didn't want to alarm you when I beat you," he replies with a confident smile.

Azumi charges and sweeps and Mark jumps over her and her slashes and delivers a cut to her left shoulder, making her drop the sword in her hand. Mark lands with a spin cutting Azumi in couple of places along her back; she falls forward, unable to continue.

Undaunted, Margit punches her tonfa rapidly at him, Mark takes each hit and powers through them to deliver a direct stab through Margit's gut. She lets out a surprised grunt as she falls, like a puppet whose strings have been cut, onto Mark. He quickly pulls out the blade and slowly lays her down on the ground before standing up straight and sheathing his sword.

"You can't talk, but you can still hear me," Mark says to his two friends on the ground, who seem to be unconscious. "This was a fun fight, but we should talk the next time we see each other. As I was saying, you should be able to get back up in a couple of minutes. I'll see you guys later."

Mark jogs away from the two while pulling out his phone and calling Moro. The phone rings two times before he picks up, "Mark, did you beat Azumi and Margit?"

"Yeah, they're both down."

"Hold on," the phone goes silent for a few seconds before Moro talks again. "The F main army has been pushed back."

"What? How?"

"We don't know yet, Kazuko and Gen-san have been pulled away from the army, we need you to get them back."

"I'm on my way."


	5. A Fate Changed Ch 1-5

**Right, as I just put on Chapter 1-1, Act 1 is a prologue. I figured that I should tell you, the readers, about the structure of Act 1 since it would appear that the War is five chapter long, while Act 2 is more... Actually I don't want to spoil much, so just let me say that everything in Act 1 will pay off ;)**

**Sorry for the long upload time I've been busy.**

* * *

**Chapter 1-5: Aiding Allies**

"_There are many types of pain. Burning, cutting, aching are all types of physical pain, pain which I can't feel. Well that's not fair, I _**_do_**_ feel them but not in your sense. Hmm, it's hard to explain. If, I say, cut my hand, it will hurt, but I've felt much worse. I guess I've become numb to it. But I'll let you hit me and I'll say 'ow' and maybe fall back, but, sorry, it's an act."_

_-Mark, Age 21_

* * *

Devil is watching the War from one of the landing skid of the news helicopter Grand Master Kawakami is being interviewed on. He is not in a physical shell, of course, but is in his pure, spiritual form. Devil is hardly interested in the interview, so instead he is literally hanging from the helicopter so he can watch the battle.

'Friedrich's and Kazama's squadrons has broken off from helping the F main army and are heading west while the main army keeps the enemy from noticing by slashing at Kuki,' he thinks. 'They are heading towards the reinforcements led by that woman in a kimono. It would be suicide to take them head on. No, Naoe is counting on the ineptitude of the commanding prowess of that woman so he can strike directly at her and take out the entire unit with one blow.

'But, based on the actions Naoe has already made in this battle, this will not be an assassination. Naoe plans on capturing the woman and probably make an example of her,' he continues his thought process. 'Enemy morale would plummet, probably to the point of betrayal…well played, Naoe the Tactician.'

Predicting human activity is a hobby Devil has grown fond of over his eight years as a "mercenary". That was the best word for it, but Devil feels the term is disingenuous. He did not work for money or for physical gain, but for purpose: to mold humanity itself into something greater. Something that is not doomed to self-destruction. Something…

Devil sighs. He stopped for a reason. Humanity should only be shaped by humans, and even before he became a mercenary he abandoned his claim to being human. Devil refocuses on the battle as the helicopter gets ready to land.

'Survivor has probably already defeated Eberbach and Oshitari…Oshitari's presence on the battlefield is unsurprising given her connection to Kuki. She would have been better suited to an assassin role rather than a protector. The S tactician must have been being cautious, and given the massive number difference an assassin unit would have most likely been unnecessary. That being said, an assassin unit would have been a good thing to rely on if things went sour. My guess is that there **is** such a unit in the S army. They have probably been told to actively avoid F army units. Oshitari would have taken out a unit anyway, but unless the current commander of the unit is as precise and aggressive as her I doubt they would be confident enough to do the same. No doubt Naoe has placed a safeguard.

'Naoe probably gained more from Eberbach's defeat. Given her profession and commanding officer, Eberbach is probably well-trained in the art of commanding. She would have led a well organized counter-attack as Kuki retreated to reinforcements. As it is I would be surprised if Kuki can fully recover before being forced back into the action,' Devil lets go of the landing skid once the helicopter is about fifteen feet above the ground and quickly makes his way out from under the descending vehicle. 'All in all, it is looking well for the F army. But there are going to be plenty of troops remaining on both sides after Kawakami joins the fray. Naoe's defenders are going to hold her off for at least a few minutes before he can pierce his way to Kuki.'

With his prediction set, all Devil has to do now is wait to be proven right or wrong. But, something is not right. He takes a quick look around as he tries to get a better grasp on what it is that is wrong. It has nothing to do with the battle…at least not yet. He falls back on his on-field training and heads in a direction that he believes will hold the answer.

It is not long before he finds himself in a clearing with a unit in the F army. He takes a quick look around in the foliage and detects a couple of presences. One is mulling over something, probably on whether or not to attack the unit. Devil sends out a few pulses of energy at the presence to ward her off. She takes notice and the two silently move away from the unit. Devil moves some distance ahead of them and creates a physical shell and waits for the two to see him.

The two hide and move well, they see him and wait cautiously. "I know you are out there, I was the one you sensed earlier. Stop hiding and face me," Devil says sternly.

"…Alright," the two beaten women come out, both are wearing army uniforms and bandages. The one talking has light grey hair. "How did you sense us?"

"Instinct led me here, once I got within range it is was easy to tell you apart from the forest," Devil explains as he carefully looks them over. "Who are you running from?"

They become silent.

"Very well, whether or not you do not answer me does not matter. I doubt that it would be anything other than the Kuki conglomerate." Both of them look at him in surprise, confirming his suspicions. "Having synthetic limbs may grant more power, but having one in this point of time is a giveaway. Someone or some people with money, knowledge, military hardware, and reason to make such things are enough to find a suitable suspect. Being hurt in the general area of a Kuki research base simplifies things."

"And what about you? Why are you here?"

Devil thinks before answering. He sees little harm in telling them. "I am here because someone I care about is here."

The two women look at each other with curious expressions on their faces. The light-grey haired one asks another simple question. "Who are you?"

"I am known as Devil, you may refer to me as such," she looks at him in disbelief, but he does not care if she believes him. "What about you?"

"Tachibana Takae, this is Mimori Saki…are you **the** Devil?"

"…I am not from hell if that is what you are asking. It was a name given to me twelve years ago that I have decided to carry as my own."

Mimori looks at Tachibana. "Do you know him, major?" she asks.

"Devil's a myth. Back when I was starting at JSDF, my instructor told me stories of a young fanatical mercenary who killed mercilessly. Devil was as powerful as he was ruthless though, so nobody who stood up to him lived," Tachibana explains. "Several people claimed to be Devil around five or six years ago and all of them died horribly, all of them presumably killed by the real Devil."

Devil nods. "Fanatical is not how I would have described myself, it implies that I believe in superstitions."

"So you **are **him?"

"The story matches my past, so I assume so."

Tachibana looks closely at Devil. "You don't seem so monstrous."

"Appearances can be deceiving, anger me if you wish to see just how monstrous I really am."

She seems satisfied with his answers. "One last question; what's stopping me from just knocking you unconscious before leaving?"

Devil laughs. "Am I to assume that as a threat?"

She raises her arms to fight. As she is about to lunge, Devil glares at her frostily. The atmosphere changes drastically as Devil unveils his spirit. Tachibana's eyes widen when she feels it and she breaks out in a cold sweat as she gulps unconsciously in fear. Devil takes a few steps forward and she takes a few steps back.

"Do you believe you can beat me now? Attack me if you dare, but know that I will show no mercy," he says coldly. "You cannot beat me; even if you were to attack me at your full potential I will easily crush you and," he looks at Mimori, who is shivering, "I will rip out her implants as you watch, bleeding on the forest ground and full of regret as the person that trusts you screams in agony for the fight you need not have started, the last thing you see before your eyesight goes dark and you feel her warm blood splash on your face as she enters the afterlife alongside you."

…

…

"…Nevermind…" Tachibana relents as she lowers her arms. Devil veils his spirit once more and the area becomes peaceful again. She takes a few deep breaths as if a pressure has lifted off her chest. "Holy…" she starts, "What the hell was that?!"

Devil ignores her outburst and looks to where the chopper landed; he can sense that Grand Master Kawakami is looking for him. "I should return. Do I need to warn you not to anger me?"

"No, we understood that." Devil turns and starts walking into the forest, but Tachibana asks one last question. "Are you going to tell anybody about us?"

"So long as you do not endanger my master or his goals than I do not care what you are doing or what anybody is doing about you. However, I shall tell my master about you and what he does with the information is his choice," Devil disappears as he dissipates the physical shell behind the foliage. He ponders about watching them for awhile but quickly shakes away the notion. Grand Master Kawakami will get suspicious if he is not back soon, so hurries back.

When he finds him, Grand Master Kawakami quickly moves towards Devil. "Where did you go?" he asks quietly to avoid suspicion from others.

"A couple of outsiders were going to interfere with the battle, I stopped them."

"And you didn't tell me?"

Devil does not show any emotion on his face or in the way he acts. "You were busy with the reporter."

Grand Master Kawakami thinks for several seconds. "Well, I suppose its fine as long as you didn't hurt them."

"I did not," Devil assures him. "Now then, did I miss anything in the battle?"

* * *

Mark didn't blink that far from the front line, but he was too focused on Azumi and Margit to notice that the main army has been pushed back quite a bit. He is forced to hide to avoid the notice of the S troops. He decides to keep his hood off since the only two people he didn't want to alert are out of the game.

'Where did these guys come from?' he asks himself. 'Are these the reinforcement that Margit brought?' He hears the clashing of metal behind the S lines not far from his current position. Mark blinks above the armies and sees Kazuko and Gen-san fighting four robots that look like Cookie.

"These guys again?" Mark mumbles as he descends into the opening the S army is making so they're not caught between Kazuko and Gen-san and the robots. "Kazuko! Gen-san! I'm here to help!"

"Good timing, Mark!" Kazuko says with thanks.

"You took your time," Gen-san doesn't sound grateful, but nods in approval.

The robots also recognize Mark, "It's the guy who beat us last time."

"Hmph, this is good. Now we can show you what we learned!"

Mark sighs. "First emotions and now they're **learning**!? **Greeeaaat**…"

"You got a problem with robots?" the one that looks like the Cookie 1 asks.

"Are you a robo-phobic?"

"...Don't you mean technophobic?" Mark asks.

"I know what I'm saying!"

"Hmm, it's not that I'm afraid of robots, but Aura Artists are told that artificial creations steal souls and so they should be destroyed, so I am a bit cautious."

"Robots steal souls?!" Kazuko asks incredulously.

"The saying comes from when artificial creations were made by imprisoning souls inside them, so it's about a thousand years old. Still, we made it our duty to destroy all of these creations to free the souls inside. So yeah I guess I am somewhat prejudiced against robots, with the only things beingworse are clones."

"But that was a thousand years ago, isn't that rule outdated?"

"That's why I'm apprehensive about robots. Culture demands they be destroyed, but since robots are different from the artificial creations of the past I don't see a need to destroy them. Not only that, but these robots have made their own souls."

"Fuahaha," Mark knows that laugh by now; Hideo has emerged from the S army and entered their conversation, "Kuki engineering has no equal, Mark. When they make something, they put their hearts into it. These robots are a testament to their passion!"

"…Yeah, I'm impressed. Leaving aside the rather precarious situation you have put yourself in, I'm glad you showed up. Do these robots have a constant connection to a back up console like they had a month ago?"

"Of course!" Hideo replies quickly.

"Good, then I can fight without questioning my morality," Mark says as he readies his fists. 'I don't want Kuki having my sword fighting data in one of their systems, so I guess I'm going brutal on their robot asses!' Mark's eye twitches. 'Thank god I didn't say that out loud.'

"Pay attention dumbass!" Gen-san yells at Mark as a robot, carrying two energy swords, lunges at him.

Mark nimbly dodges the attack. "Don't worry, I'm not a rookie!" he yells back reassuringly as he kicks the attacking robot's head. A loud cracking noise from his foot tells him that was a stupid idea. "Of course they upgraded their armor…"

"Heheh, that's right," exclaims the robot as he slashes at Mark's other leg to sweep him, but Mark is already jumping back. "Not even our energy sabers can cut through our armor!"

The robot follows him and attacks before Mark can even put his feet on the ground. "And they're faster, too!" Mark intentionally falls backward to dodge the "blades". When his back hits the ground he rolls to the side to dodge the follow-up. He is forced on the defensive and constantly jumps back to avoid the energy sabers. He considers asking for help, but Gen-san is fighting another robot, with one energy sword, as is Kazuko, hers has an energy spear.

'Wait! Where's the other robot?!' Mark sees the last one behind the others, spinning its "hands" that are actually mini-guns as Mark found out last time. 'Wait…again! Aren't guns forbidden?'

As Mark thinks while dodging, the spear robot jumps, exposing Kazuko to the mini-gun robot. No longer given the option to second guess himself, he quickly jumps between her and the robot and shield himself just before it starts firing. Many rounds hit him quickly, but he remains standing after the barrage ends. "Are you alright?!" Kazuko asks behind him.

"Those were special rounds so I'm-" the robot that was chasing Mark interrupts him by slashing him with both of the swords, but he quickly recovers. "Fine…no more playing around then." He dashes at the robot and grabs him. Then, using his momentum, he slams it into the ground. "I bet it takes a bit for you to get up, so wait here, okay?"

"Damn you," it says as Mark gets off it and pounces on the spear robot attacking Kazuko. He goes for his weapon to keep it still, giving Kazuko the chance to finish it with a quick chop to the back of its neck. It noisily goes down.

"Thanks Mark…Behind you!" Kazuko says. Mark quickly spins towards the mini-gun robot, which is about to fire.

"Time to try out my new tricks!" he shouts excitedly as a lavender shade covers his left hand. The light solidifies in his mother's soul weapon, a parrying dagger, and he quickly holds it up between him and the robot.

"That's not going to help you now!" it shouts as it fires, but the bullets stop in front of the dagger. "Huh?"

The area around the dagger looks distorted, and the bullets stopped once they entered it. With a long shout and a show of exertion, as if pushing away a sturdy wall, Mark sends the bullets back with much more force which pierce the robot's hard shell. The robot falls backward and fizzles for a few moments before shutting down.

"Whoa, how did you do that Mark?" Kazuko asks. Mark falls to one knee and pants heavily as the dagger dissipates. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me…it was just…more tiring than I thought it would be. Go help Gen-san," Mark replies. Kazuko nods and attacks the other robot. Mark mumbles to himself, "So that's how much power it takes to summon a rift. Devil makes it look so easy. But then…" he stops when Kazuko and Gen-san come back.

"Hey, can you still walk?" Gen-san asks. "It would be a pain to drag you back."

Mark picks himself up. "Have you three forgotten about me?" asks the two saber robot that has also just gotten up.

"Yep," Mark answers bluntly.

"Then I shall punish you for your arrogance. While you were fighting the others, I was connecting to the satellite we are connected to and compiled data on your patterns. Now-bzzzzzzzzzzzt!" The robot begins to spark and move in random directions.

Kazuko and Gen-san look at each other curiously before turning to Hideo for answers, but his face shows that he is just as clueless as they are. The robot jerks a bit more before exploding.

"What happened?" Hideo asks to no one in particular.

"Your robot was given a virus by a friend of mine," Mark answers, unbothered.

"That's impossible. Kuki has the best programmers in the world! They have protection against every created computer virus."

Mark smiles maliciously. "What makes you think that they…" he hesitates for a moment before finishing. "That they are the best?"

"Why are you talking about this?" Gen-san asks impatiently. "We need to get back."

"But the S commander is right there," Kazuko protests.

"We're still surrounded and Mark looks spent. We will have a better chance with our unit behind us," Gen-san logically explains.

"And your sister is going to enter the fight prematurely," Mark adds. "We fall back now and come back stronger."

"All right, all right, I get it," Kazuko says reluctantly before turning around and charging through to F main army with Gen-san and Mark right behind her, leaving Hideo with his new guards. At least for now.


	6. A Fate Changed Ch 1-6

**Chapter 1-6: The Warrior Goddess**

"_Nee-san has been training much harder ever since she met Devil. Gramps seems to think of that as a good thing, but I'm worried about her. She hasn't been sleeping well and she's scary at times."_

_- Kawakami Kazuko_

* * *

I'm watching the battle from far behind the S army lines. The deal was that I join in when I feel like it, and now I'm waiting to see what my little bro put together for me. My thoughts turn to when Yamato first asked me out and I rejected him. He's been trying to prove himself ever since he asked me out a week ago, so I'm looking forward to see if he's outdone himself today, on my birthday.

I look out at the battle again, and I feel myself smile in anticipation. Mayumayu being one of my opponents is a no brainer, and I saw Mark fighting just a little while ago. My smile disappears. I've trained hard ever since he beat me, even though the fight was unofficial. He won't win again. But I want to beat someone else even more. I clench my fist in anger…Devil…

I shake my head and focus on the battle to get him out my head. The main fight is at a standstill and isn't long before I get bored…I see Mayumayu head towards Mark behind the battle, they talk for a bit. As usual Mayumayu gets flustered, how adorable. Mark tries to comfort her and doesn't look nervous at all, I wonder if that's because of his past experience or if he's confident because he's already fought me. He's going to be surprised if he thinks I'll go down as easily as last time.

Should I attack now? Or should I wait till things heat up? I guess I can wait a few more minutes…

(One minute later)

…Screw it! I jump over the battlefield and straight to Mayumayu and Mark. Normally I would make a big entrance, but I've been itching to try out my new skills!

Mayumayu is the first to notice me, "Watch out!" she shouts in surprise to Mark as she herself jumps back. He quickly jumps and rolls away without even looking as I crash down on where he was, pushing up a big cloud of dust.

"Nice to see you too, Momoyo," he says calmly with a friendly grin once the dust disappears.

"You act as if this happens often," I reply, a little bummed-out that I didn't get a surprised reaction.

He shrugs, "I've been ambushed enough times to not get bothered by it anymore. At least on field anyway, I may be a bit more taken aback at on the streets when my guard's down."

"Hmm, then maybe I'll do that later," I say with a smile. I move on to the real question, "Where's Devil?"

"Not even going to ask how I'm doing? If I'm still dying?" he asks, playfully avoiding the question.

"I'm guessing you aren't."

He sighs, "Thanks for caring."

"So where's Devil?" I ask again.

He looks into my eyes. After several moments he sighs again, this time fully serious. "He's not with me, he's with you grandfather." I smile in response, but he continues with a grave tone. "Leave him alone, Momoyo."

"Heheh, why are you talking like that? Are you afraid of me beating him?" I ask lightly but his disapproving gaze continues.

"I'm telling you to drop it **because** you can't beat him."

Now I'm starting to get angry, "I've been training hard since we last saw each other. I've trained hard just so I can beat him!"

"It's not enough to defeat him."

"And how do you know if I can't even try?!" I almost yell.

"Because I know Devil! I know his skills, I know his methods, and I know his strengths!"

"U-umm," Mayumayu tries to get a word in but quickly shies away when they both look at her, and she quickly raises up Matsukaze as a shield and talks through him, "How do you know that Devil will win when you haven't even seen how much Momo-senpai has grown?"

I nod gratefully to her before I turn back to Mark. "She asks a good question, you haven't seen me in a fight." I ready myself to battle.

"Fine, we fight like we're supposed to in this war and if I'm impressed I'll consider it," he says as he draws his sword. I quickly glance at Mayumayu, and she's ready to fight.

"Fuahaha," I hear a familiar laugh from above and quickly jump back as the figure hits the ground between me and Mark, spraying dust around like what I just did, but I don't need to see her to know that it's Ageha-sama. "You aren't thinking of starting without me have you?"

"Well you were taking your time," Mark speaks defensively, back to his less grim self. "We were starting to think that you wouldn't show up."

"I didn't want to intrude on your conversation," she says politely. Mark gives off a priceless 'I just screwed up' expression, but she doesn't see it. Instead she looks at me, "You don't look as surprised as I thought you'd be."

"I felt that way just a little while ago. Honestly though, who else would it be?"

She lunges at me and punches, but I easily dodge the strike and jump into the air and charge up my energy, but she quickly follows and interrupts my attack. "You didn't think you could get away that easily, did you?"

I can feel myself grin as I block her strikes, before punching her down with a well-timed hit. Mark quickly dashes and catches her while Mayumayu takes her place and slashes many times, but I quickly see through her cuts and catch her blade with my hand. While she's surprised, I flip and drop-kick her towards Mark and Ageha-sama and then quickly chase after her.

"Mayucchi, catch!" I hear Mark shout as he throws his sword. Mayumayu spins and sheaths her katana in one motion before catching it. She quickly twirls with the blade outstretched and I raise my hand to seize it. As I try to clench my fingers on the blade, though, they go through it. I don't have time to voice my surprise before my arm and hand gets cut. Mayumayu continues her defense with more strikes, though at a much slower speed than with her katana. But even with the slow speed I'm too close to avoid them.

"Now move!" She quickly maneuvers to the side and exposes Mark, who quickly delivers a powerful kick to my chest, sending me flying away from them as Mayumayu lands. As I land on my feet, Ageha-sama rushes me again and delivers countless punches, which I match with my own fists. As I throw my attacks, Mark comes up on my right while Mayumayu takes my left. Left with no choice, I let Ageha-sama score a direct hit to my stomach get her as close as I can. She smirks in satisfaction, but when she sees **my** smirk it quickly vanishes.

"Kawakami-style, Human Bomb!" I shout before my energy explodes, engulfing Ageha-sama and covering me in a black smoke. I use Instant Recovery as the explosion occurs, so I'm not hurt by the attack. As I start to get confident, I'm hit in the face, and then in the gut three time in quick succession before being blown backward. "Damn it!" I spout in confusion as I recover.

Ageha-sama wasn't blown back by the technique! "You alright, Ageha?" Mark asks.

"I'm fine, thanks for the help!" Ageha-sama replies gratefully. I can sense Mark's energy on Ageha-sama, and when I see the black marks on his face I finally piece it together. He surrounded her with his barrier just before I exploded, shielding her instead of himself! I grimace in annoyance.

* * *

"Training and experience are two different things Grand Master Kawakami." Devil and Grand Master Kawakami are watching the battle from afar. "They seem similar in theory, but a seasoned warrior can see the difference."

Grand Master Kawakami nods. "Comparing Momoyo and Mark, there is quite a difference."

"Survivor has learned that every life counts in a war, so he prioritizes the safety and support of others. Kawakami's training, by contrast, makes her more short-sighted, so she focuses on defeating her opponent quickly to win the battle."

He chuckles, "That's a rather black and white observation."

"It does not help that the two cancel each other out when they collide. Experience does not beat training, and training does not beat experience."

"Which of the two do you have the most of?"

"I like to believe that I have an equal amount of both. My first four years were focused on experience and then, when I knew my abilities, I focused on training. But that is irrelevant right now."

* * *

I growl as I grow more and more frustrated. Every attack I perform gets countered by Mark's support, and every time I get close to him he double teams me with either Ageha-sama or Mayumayu! He's just outside of my reach, teasing me, **mocking** me!

"ENOUGH!" I shout angrily as I pick up a nearby tree and throw it at them horizontally. Ageha-sama and Mayumayu are too close to dodge and get caught in the branches. Mark quickly rolls under it and leaps at me, with his sword raised. "Finally!" I dodge his slashes, but he cuts me as I throw him behind me. "Now you're mine! No one's going to help you now!"

"Yeah, I'm alone. But that doesn't make me less dangerous!" he exclaims as he charges his sword and puts bright white energy in his free hand. That's the attack that I can't touch, I remind myself as I put my power into my hands. I feel myself smile from ear to ear; the excitement of a threat flooding through me! This is it!

We charge at each other as we both shout! His sword slashes high, so I duck! Then he pushes his hand towards me to take advantage of the opening he made, but I'm already ahead of him! I quickly move to the side and dodge the orb of energy and then I deliver a well-placed punch at his arm! The orb flies away from me!

"Oh, I'm fucked," leaves his lips as he watches the energy scatter on the ground.

Now that he's wide open I start my attack! "Kawakami style, Energy One-Two!" I yell happily as I drive my left fist at his chest, but he desperately catches myfist with his free hand. My power blows through his arm, and is so strong that the sleeve rips apart! I continue pushing for a few seconds, but he doesn't let go, instead he diverts the attack to the side. As I pull back my right I catch a glimpse of him gritting his teeth in pain, a sign that he's almost done! I strike him dead center in the chest with the rest of my energy! He's thrown back like a ragdoll, tumbling end over end as his sword flies ahead of him, embedding itself in a far tree just before it's master crashes just below it.

I pant from the encounter, my heart is racing with the thrill of defeating a tough opponent! "I did it," I say aloud. "Yes! I did it! I've beat him!" I laugh like a child. "I've beaten my first target, now I-"

"Momo-senpai!" a voice comes from behind me.

"Mayumayu! I did it!" I turn in excitement to her and Ageha-sama, but when I do she backs away fearfully. "What's wrong?! Oh yeah, the war! Don't worry I'm-"

"Momoyo, you need to calm down," Ageha-sama says sternly.

"Hah? Why are you guys so serious, all of a sudden?" I feel something warm on my hands slowly dripping down onto the ground. Curious, I look at them, and I get shocked to the bone.

* * *

Devil is tense and is pacing back and forth anxiously, his eyes never leaving Survivor's location.

"What's wrong?" Grand Master Kawakami asks unknowingly.

"Survivor is wounded."

"He was just hit with a powerful attack, of course he's wounded."

Devil looks at him like an impatient teacher scolding a student. "You do not get it. He is no longer strong." Grand Master Kawakami looks back uncomprehendingly so Devil explains, "The attack he performed is called the Aura Reap and is performed by imploding one's own energy to absorb anothers energy, like a black hole. It is a devastating attack that is crippled by the fact that it **must** hit the target."

"But in this case it didn't."

"Exactly, his energy has imploded **without drawing out another energy source** so he has nothing left to protect himself with!"

Grand Master Kawakami looks back at Survivor. "He doesn't look too bad."

"I was not implying he needed help, I just do not like seeing him like that."

He laughs at the comment.

* * *

I slowly turn towards Mark. He's lying there, not moving at all. I-I can't… I couldn't have done this…This was an accident…We were just fighting and I… This isn't my fault! I didn't want this! I…They can't see this! Not Yamato, not Wanko, no one will want to be with me anymore…I'll be alone!

Wait! He just moved! "He just moved!"

"I'm not done yet…" he mumbles as he shambles to stand. He's alive! Whew, I didn't kill him after all! Wait a minute…he's getting up…how in the hell is he getting up after an attack like that!

"I'm not seeing things, am I?" I ask no one in particular, but Mayumayu answers.

"No, he's really getting up."

The pain alone would have crippled a normal person, maybe even a trained fighter, but he still rises from the ground using the trees to support him. Then, at full height, he pulls his sword out of the tree before turning toward me exposing his injuries. The bones in his free arm have shattered and even some of the splinters grotesquely stick out of his flesh. There is a fist sized crater in chest where the second blow struck. Then as I look at his face, he spits out some blood and smiles.

"I'm called 'Survivor' for a reason. Now should we continue or are we having a break?" I'm impressed, relieved, awestruck even. A flare explodes in the sky, signaling the end of the Kawakami War.


	7. A Fate Changed Ch 1-7

**Chapter 1-7: Looking Forward**

"_To move forward, you must sometimes look behind yourself. However, the road already traveled will try to hypnotize you into stopping. I have never been tempted myself, but you do not have to look far to see those trapped."_

_-Devil_

* * *

It's been about an hour since the flare signaling 2-F's victory went up.

'Great timing, too,' Mark thinks as he walks up along the side of a nearby hill. 'I was pretty much BS-ing the others when I took those hits. If Momoyo attacked again I would have been screwed.' He looks down at the hole in the center of his hoodie and his missing shirt sleeve. The wounds have healed over the course of several minutes. 'And this is why I bought several outfits of clothes; can't have anything nice around here.'

Mark saw Momoyo jump (literally) away from the celebration and onto this hill just a few minutes ago, and decided to find and talk to her. At the peak, he sees her watching the party below while leaning on a tree. He walks next to her and sits on a fallen tree, following Momoyo's gaze. "I thought you would be bitterer," he says to her.

"Bitterer?" she asks.

He smiles awkwardly, "...Not the best word for it, I guess… What are you thinking about?" She looks down, embarrassed. He responds in a reassuring voice, "I won't tell and I won't judge: just speak your mind."

"I was thinking about how I was going to apologize to you. I've been pretty mean to you…" He continues to look at her, urging her on. "Ever since you gave Wanko that special training, I've been a… well, a jerk, and you didn't deserve it. Then, I bullied you into a corner when you were dying. And now, while we were fighting, I delivered an attack that would have killed anyone else."

"You don't have to apologize. I understand why you did what you did. I probably would have done the same if somebody had messed with my…" she looks at him as he stops himself, "…with one of my friends." He quickly moves to change the subject. "As for what just happened I'm glad you did it."

"You're glad that I almost killed you?" she asked, somewhat surprised.

"I'm glad that I was the one you almost killed." He quickly explains, "I've been through **a lot**, so it's good that you hit me with it first and not someone else."

"So you're saying that I should try to kill you instead of someone else because you won't die," Momoyo summarizes.

"Yep, pretty much nothing kills me."

She looks at him dubiously, "Exactly how many times have you almost been killed?"

He laughs, "That's a loooong list. Let's see…" He thinks quickly. "I've been shot in the heart with a shell from a tank's cannon, that was a fun one. Umm, I fell into a volcano one time. It sucked. Oh yeah, I've been decapitated! I can barely remember how now that I'm thinking back on it."

"You got decapitated?! Then how is your head on your body?!"

"I got better. I kinda had to, I tried rolling around a bit but that …" Momoyo starts laughing. "What did I say?"

"Hahaha…It's nothing…hahaha," she continues to laugh. He shrugs while smiling and waits for her laughter to die down. "Sorry about that…so did you want to talk with me about something or…"

"I was just making sure that there were no problems between us. I'm going to be operating in Kawakami for awhile, and I would feel better if I still had you as a friend."

Momoyo smiles as if he said something silly. "Of course we're friends," she states. "You didn't have to worry yourself about it."

"Good," he says, relieved. He once again turns to look at the victory party with her in silence. Eventually, she switches her gaze back to him, but he doesn't look back and instead quickly cuts her off. "I'm sorry, Devil is still out of your league."

She sighs, "Can you at least tell me what I need to beat him?"

"…That's a hard question. When it comes to Devil, you need to have a certain mindset as well as strength..." They both sense someone walking up the hill, towards them. Mark sees Momoyo's face change in the corner of his vision and, using that, realizes that the person is Yamato. "Guessing by your expression I'd say that you two have something important to discuss." He gets up.

"Wait," she says to stop him leaving, "what about Devil?"

"We can talk about him later. As I told you earlier, I'm going to be here for awhile. I'll come by and visit you."

"Fine, but I'll hold you to that."

He grins in acknowledgement before blinking away.

* * *

Mark is in a room in the 'mental plane' as Devil refers to it. It looks exactly like the old room he had back as a kid: same bed, same window, same **feel**.

Devil taught him how to create these 'rooms' inside his dreams two weeks ago. By focusing ones thoughts via ones soul, they can create realms that can completely access one's mind, including memories, thoughts, and several other mental keepsakes.

Mark started with a familiar room, then expanded the walls and added a chair and a desk that contains his memories as well as a bed to 'truly rest' as Devil put it. Afterwards he added a fireplace, a plastic dummy to practice new attacks, and a stand to put his brother's Bo Staff.

For now, Mark is deep in thought while sitting on the chair behind the desk. He's going through his notes and is creating new notes, which suddenly appear as floating letters and images. He arranges them with a serious look; putting together names, arranging the notes in a different order, trying to predict the future. 'How the hell does Devil do this so easily?!' he thinks.

Suddenly he is grabbed from behind. He jumps up a bit, but the woman (guessing by what's pressing against his back) is putting her weight on him, keeping him from moving. "I'm a little jealous," she whispers seductively. "Why don't you come to the bed and focus on me~?"

She licks the side of his neck as he speaks, "Azumi…how did you get in here? I didn't create an image or shell of you."

She slowly lowers her hands to his abdomen. "Heh, maybe you created me unconsciously because you want me~" he grabs her hands to stop her. She let's go and sits on his desk, where he sees she's only wearing red lingerie, "What's wrong?"

He doesn't look at her. "Devil," he says loudly toward the center of the room. "Why are you doing this?"

Devil suddenly appears where Mark is looking with a concerned look. "You are too stressed and I thought that this would help."

"So why the deception? You could have just told me."

"I could have, but you would not have listened," he explains. Mark sighs; Devil is probably right about that. "Are you like this because of Eberbach and Friedrich? Or are you nervous about the future?"

Mark sighs again, deeper this time. "I guess I'm just overwhelmed by everything."

Devil thinks for a few moments. "I doubt that anything I say will deter you to resting, so allow me to assuage you by helping you," Mark nods and creates a chair opposite to him for Devil to sit on. Devil disperses the Azumi shell as he sits down, "Let us start by taking a step back and reviewing the people that you would like to be your student."

"We already know who I want, why should we go over it?"

"If you are overwhelmed, you fall back and analyze the situation."

Mark ponders that state for a few moments before giving in, "I suppose that's solid logic." Mark scatters the notes and pulls up four pictures with attachments.

He grabs one and shows it to Devil as Mark explains. "The first is Christiane Friedrich. She could be a little 'princess-y' at times, but she knows what's right and can be trusted. Her father is serious a problem, though, and he will cause her emotional distress since we are currently enemies."

Mark grabs the second picture, and like before, gives it to Devil. "The second is Kazuko Kawakami. A hard worker and a pure girl, Kazuko has a strong will and is very loyal. She's an orphan who deeply admires her sister, and will not give up the Kawakami temple without a fight, not to mention that this could trigger Momoyo Kawakami's anger and that would be very bad."

Still listening calmly, Devil takes the third picture. "Third is Yukie Mayuzumi, or Mayucchi to her friends, the elder daughter of the Eleventh-dan Sword Saint. Mayucchi has a high amount of power and has already trained her aura to a basic degree (compared to Aura Artists), she will easily pick up the necessary skills. According to several accounts, Mayucchi believes that power is the reason for her lack of friends, and she will most likely be reluctant to take a chance to become stronger."

Now Mark gives the final picture. "Fourth is Miyako Shiina, one of the Five Great Archers. Miyako has a strong spirit, and could make a powerful ally. However, she is, um… 'passionate' about Yamato Naoe and is uninterested in anything that doesn't involve him.

These are currently the only people I'm interested that I haven't proposed the idea to."

"So you already asked Eberabach and Oshitari to be your disciple?"

"Heh, I asked them to be my **partner**. If I told them I wanted them to leave their current employers to become my student they would have kicked my ass."

"True," Devil thinks for a moment. "I propose we split our tasks between us." Mark looks at him curiously. "I shall offer the idea to Shiina and Mayuzumi…"

"While I ask Chris and Kazuko. That makes some sense theoretically, but what makes you think that they will even listen to you?"

"Hahah, have I done something to make you doubt me?"

Mark scratches the back of his head. "Alright, I'll trust you with this."

Devil smiles gratefully. "With that settled, I would like to voice my concern for your next plan."

"Hm? Oh, you mean Missy?"

"No, Chef Sia's grand opening does not concern me. I am more worried about our steps against Friedrich."

Mark twitches slightly. "With our friends and connections, we'll be able to harass while keeping a few steps-"

"I am more concerned about you… Are you all right with doing this?"

"…I'm no stranger to this, but still..." Mark fidgets in his chair. "The problem with these things is that somebody is going to lose… I have to do this. I **will** change this world, Devil."

Mark stares at Devil to show his resolve. "Very well, Survivor," he says as he gets up and get's ready to leave.

"Wait," Mark tells him, Devil stops as he was commanded. "What about your thoughts in this?"

Devil smiles and doesn't hesitate before talking, "I do everything for you, and what you are doing for me is far more than I deserve." Then he's gone. Mark mulls that over for a bit before shrugging in satisfaction. He stands up and walks to the bed before closing his eyes…

"Everything's in motion now…"


	8. A Fate Changed Ch 2-8

**Hey guys! Sorry about the long break I had between this chapter and the last chapter. A lot of crap happened in the last few months, including my computer dying, having to wait until I could pay to fix it in a physical sense, then I had to fix it in a digital sense, then I couldn't access my notes and stories and had to pay for Microsoft Word.**

**In the middle of that I had to leave my city twice for family emergencies so I couldn't even start on those issues until I got back.**

**ANYWAY, the chapter is 2-8, (Act #-Overall Chapter #) so you haven't skipped seven chapters: this is chapter eight :)**

* * *

**Act 2**

**Goddess vs. Devil**

**Chapter 2-8: Mirror Image/The Lady**

"_Can't sleep... I guess I'll just write something down, maybe that will help._

"_Devil told me about a week ago about why he is (or was) always so distant from everyone else. Although 'distant' is probably the wrong word; aggressive would be more accurate. While he was created from me when my soul shattered, he doesn't hold my talent in survival. Put a bullet in my heart and I could still walk away; put a bullet in Devil's heart and it could be lethal._

"_So how do you make sure you'll survive a battle? You adapt, as Devil did. He created many parasitic techniques that will drain energy from anywhere. Electricity, heat, sunlight, even the souls of the living! But that wasn't enough; what if his death came instantly, like a bullet to the head? Once again, Devil changed: starting with the basic form Aura Barrier, he altered it into being able to accurately pinpoint aggression before the strike comes so he can avoid and counter it. Brilliant and life protecting, it has only one fatal flaw: it is easily thrown off when near friendly auras or spirits. No friends, no allies, no danger._

"_This is because friendly auras are quick to embrace those that they are friendly with. It would be like putting a blindfold on…You know I'm starting to get tired now, I'm going to try and get some sleep."_

_-Mark's Journal, Latest Entry _

* * *

Devil is watching the sunrise on a building near the house, with a clear view at the bedroom screen to the back yard. He moves his gaze from the daybreak to look at his Master.

'He would have arisen by now if he had no trouble sleeping…I will let him sleep in for a bit longer,' he turns back to the horizon.

It is around a half hour later when his Master begins to stir. Devil smiles before standing up and jumping over three houses from the six-story building and landing in the backyard. He blinks through the screen to the living room and takes a seat on the couch as his Master readies himself for the day. Once dressed and groomed, his Master walks out of the room with a heavy sigh.

"Something is troubling you, Survivor?" he asks politely.

"Couldn't sleep," he points towards the outside. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"If one does not not sleep, one makes mistakes," Devil answers in a caring tone.

Survivor looks away as if embarrassed. "True…"

"What prevented you from sleeping?"

He sighs again. "I just couldn't get yesterday out of my head. The Kawakami War, I mean. Something isn't right and it's bugging me," he turns to face Devil as if he realized something. "They **did** need me right? They couldn't have won without me?"

"Ah." Devil sees the problem. "You want believe that you have already changed fate. That Naoe should have lost, if it had not been for your intervention."

Survivor laughs, "Yeah, I guess that's pretty stupid, right?" Devil does not answer him and his master's laughs soon fall silent. "…You have the answer, don't you?"

Devil does not want to tell him and hesitates before speaking "…I have had some time to think back over the facts…and 2-F would have won even if you had not entered."

Survivor is stunned. "It was a thousand versus three hundred! There's no way!"

"Naoe's potential is far above what you think it is. Even he does not fully realize his intelligence. Not only that, but many factors you dealt with were caused by you. Oshitari only entered the fray because of your attacks, Kawakami would have waited much longer had she not sensed your presence, Kuki's bodyguard would have not expected an attack from Shiina if you had not attacked."

"Okay then, but what about the number difference? Surely I only helped in that case."

"Due to your actions against crime the last time you were here, Naoe was not able to fully acquire around forty percent of the 2-F army; by my guess the end result would have been about eight hundred to five hundred."

Survivor scratches the back of his head. "How in the hell do you estimate like that?! Is that even possible?!" he says partially impressed.

Devil laughs proudly. "I try to leave nothing to chance. Before we got here, I asked our information gatherer for phone data for Naoe, Kawakami, and everyone else. Then I took financial statistics around the city I was able to deduce which parts of the city were most affected by your 'cleaning efforts'. Then I-"

Survivor tries to follow ahead, "Cross-referenced the names in the affected districts with the ones from Yamato's phone contacts, and then you took the roster of the Kawakami War and filtered out the names in the 2-F army. The end total of people was around two hundred."

"That would have been two-fifty. You forgot to factor in the full allegiances in 2-S."

"Eh, close enough," he says, satisfied with his result.

"…I hope you are not upset about this."

"No, I'm not. If anything I'm glad because it's over and solved," Survivor assures. "It doesn't matter though, because nothing's changed. We keep our course."

Devil feels himself smile, "Very well, I am going locate Shiina and Mayuzumi, as we discussed yesterday."

Survivor smiles back, "Careful, I doubt that they are going to be happy to see you." Devil nods before vanishing from his master's view.

* * *

The Lady strolls on the sidewalk with a bow in her left hand and a quiver on her back as her robotic friend follows her closely.

'Mmm…' she thinks, 'where did Yamato go? His heart was crushed again by Momo-senpai, so if I should be there to comfort him, I can quickly bring up my heart points.'

"What are you thinking about, Miyako?" Cookie asks.

"Yamato, of course," she answers truthfully. "I was thinking about where he could be."

"I thought you were going to train."

"I am, but it's my duty to try to know where he always is. Always knowing where he could be is also a form of training in itself," she says with a smile. "I wonder where can pick up a potion to increase my hp?"

"You don't look hurt…Is it just me or did everyone disappear?"

"Heart points, not hit points. You can increase it by giving the protag a potion."

A voice comes from above, "If you want an aphrodisiac, there is a shop to the east of here that sells them."

"What?" She feels her eyes widen as she nocks an arrow in reflex. A figure drops in front of her, about 20 paces away. She feels a hot burst of anger as he meets her gaze. "Devil…" she growls menacingly.

He isn't bothered in the slightest. "Good morning, Shiina. Are you off to go train?"

"…Yes, ever since you appeared a month ago, I've been honing my skills in case you attacked again," she quickly scans her surroundings as she talks, noticing that there is no one else on the street besides her and Cookie. "How did you get rid of everyone?"

"Hm, I suppose your friends have trained as well," he mutters mostly to himself. "No matter, I had predicted this."

"Answer me!" she shouts in annoyance.

Devil smiles. "I put up a few barriers that make weak-willed people not want to cross it. I tailored it to allow just you to cross," he looks at Cookie. "However, it would seem that the barrier only works on living organisms."

"Who is this guy, Miyako?" Cookie asks.

"This is Devil, the guy who almost killed Yamato," she tries to answer calmly. "Get ready to transform Cookie."

"Got it!"

Devil smiles knowingly, "Shiina, I thought you were smarter than this."

"You're the one in **my** range!"

Devil remains silent for several moments, eventually he sighs and explains. "If you were paying attention to my actions last time, you would have noticed that I, too, am proficient in long range. The only range I am at a disadvantage is at medium range."

She registers what he said before moving on. "What are you doing here?" she asks with contempt-covered words.

Devil gets straight to the point. "Simple, Survivor needs a disciple, and he is offering you the chance."

She scoffs, "Why would I want to do that?"

Devil chuckles slightly. She narrows her eyes as she sees an opening. She releases her arrow at him; he easily catches it with his left hand. "Why would you not want to become a student in Aura Arts?" he asks casually, as if nothing happened.

She readies another arrow. "For one, I would not be able to be with Yamato as much."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Yes! If I'm not there and he lets his guard down, I would have missed my chance!"

Devil looks at her with curiosity. "I thought you cared about Naoe."

She narrows her eyes, "I **love** him!"

"And yet you talk about him as if he was your enemy," he speaks almost in disbelief.

"I don't expect **you** to understand what love is," she replies as she puts some of her spirit in the nocked arrow.

"I love Survivor; that is why I protect and act for him."

Images start to make their way into her head, '…Wait a minute. They look the same!' she shoots her arrow with as she thinks that.

Devil sighs, despite her arrow being powered, he catches it effortlessly with his right hand. He puts it with the other arrow in his left hand, "If you are trying to hurt me, you should not use blunts…I love his soul, not his body," he states as if he's reading her mind. "Most humans can't understand what that means, instead they choose physical love. I assure you, that is not the case."

"I get the feeling he doesn't love you back," she says to twist the knife as she nocks yet another arrow.

"He does not love me, but he knows what I feel and that is enough for me," his eyes become sharp, and she feels like he is looking directly into her soul. "If you care about Naoe, you would want to protect him. Becoming fluent in the abilities of the Aura Arts will allow you to guard and help him against even the most formidable of obstacles. That lone reason should be sufficient enough for you to consider Survivor's offer. But, Survivor can only take one disciple at a time, so think it over quickly."

He turns to leave. 'This is it!' she thinks. "Now Cookie!" she quickly speaks before shooting an extremely charged attack, one of the high results of her training. He turns and once again catches the projectile, but Cookie has already reached striking distance while transforming.

"Cookie Thunder!" Cookies shouts, as he slashes downward with a speed that even Momo-senpai has trouble keeping track of.

Suddenly, Devil appears behind Cookie with his right hand placed on the back of Cookies neck. Her eyes widen in disbelief as her mind continues to try and grasp what happened. "That…that wasn't teleporting!" she utters in disbelief. She barely saw Devil as a blur, but he side-stepped the attack and moved behind Cookie.

"The term is 'blinking'," Devil corrects without moving his position. "And no, I rarely blink in battle. Blinking is extremely taxing for the body of the user, and can cause disorientation and dizziness."

"I can't move!" Cookie shouts.

"Heh, this is a technique of my own invention," Devil says proudly.

"Let him go!" she yells while nocking her fourth arrow.

"Relax, Shiina. As a robot, he is not harmed by this attack… Well, I am siphoning some power, but not enough to cause physical damage."

"Then what are you doing to him?!"

"I assume you know how the human body works? The brain gives electrical signals to the body via the spine. By polarizing my own bio-electric field using my aura, I can intercept these signals by absorbing them as energy."

"But I'm not human!" Cookie states.

"If you were, you would be suffering from a form of decapitation. Your battery, speaker, and other vital components are in your head so you can't die from this."

Knowing that Cookie is not in danger, she quickly calms herself. A quick thought runs through her head, "Why are you showing us this?"

"There are many reasons, I'm sure you can think of a few yourself," he lowers his hand and disappears. She hears a three 'thunks' in rapid succession directly behind her, she quickly spins but Devil's already gone. She pulls off her quiver and realizes the arrows that she had shot are back inside it.

"Are you okay Miyako?" Cookie asks as he moves back to her side.

"Yeah, he didn't hurt me…" she guarantees Cookie. "Don't worry about it, let's just go train."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'll think this over later."

"Well… if you say so."

She starts walking again. 'I wonder what Yamato will think about this.'

* * *

At that time, in Germany…

Right after the Kawakami War, Margit was called back to headquarters. She wasn't told what was going on, and nobody will tell her. Everything about this gives her a bad feeling. 'Did I do something wrong?' she asks herself as she heads towards the Lieutenant General's office. 'What happened while I was away?'

She knocks on the door. She hears the Lieutenant General, "Come in." She politely opens the door. She looks at her commanding officer: his hat is off, he's pale and has bags under his eyes, his desk is covered in papers, and she has never seen him look so unkempt. She quickly closes the door and sits on a chair in front of his desk. "Has anyone told you why you were called back here?" he asks in his usual calm voice.

"No, sir," she answers anxiously.

He remains silent as he looks for the words to say. "I am under…review by the Military. Around 1500 yesterday, there was an incident involving our recently captured terrorists."

"What?! You mean Nizam?!"

The Lieutenant General frowns. "Yes, he broke out of our custody and was able to escape with his men, without killing anyone." Margit looks down as she listens. "Evidence says that they were given help escaping," the Lieutenant General picks up one of the papers on his desk and reads it aloud, "'We discovered tranquilizer casings, several missing uniforms, and corrupted video footage surveying the escapees' cells.'"

Margit immediately knows the culprit. "Why are they blaming you?! It had to have been Mark!"

"We have no proof of that he was the one who did this. Nor do we have a connection between him and Nizam."

"He helped us capture…" Suddenly, Margit has a moment of clarity.

Everything comes back to her:

"…**why don't you just catch him yourself?"**

"**Rule #1 in politics is to be able to deny any variable that can cause you harm."**

"**I still have to keep up appearances…"**

"**That's not my diamond."**

"**I…cannot pay or endorse mercenaries…"**

"**Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?"**

Margit feels her eyes widen. "When we didn't give him his diamond…we lost all of our proof that he helped us…"

The Lieutenant General nods slowly. "And since we cannot connect Mark or Devil to this, I'm the next suspect."

"So…what happens now?"

"All of my operations are going to be temporarily stopped, and all of my military assets have been seized for review."

"What about milady?"

He grimaces, "All of my military assets are unavailable to me. Which means I cannot help her nor have anyone look after her. Due to the sensitivity of these events, she cannot be told what is wrong. She's…alone and she won't know why."

Margit can tell that **this** is why he's so upset. She looks down and can feel her fists tightening. There is a bubbling anger building inside of her but she doesn't know who to direct it at. She was the one who didn't side with Mark, the Lieutenant General was the one who double-crossed Mark, and Mark was the one who retaliated in such a despicable manner.

But one thing is certain, she won't be able to go to Japan anytime soon.


End file.
